Ultrastructural and histochemical studies on the epithelium revestment layer in the tube feet of the starfish Asterina stellifera

✍ Scribed by Helena de Souza Santos; Wilson da Silva Sasso

• Publisher: John Wiley and Sons
• Year: 1970
• Tongue: English
• Weight: 919 KB
• Volume: 130
• Category: Article
• ISSN: 0362-2525
• DOI: 10.1002/jmor.1051300303

✦ Synopsis

The "cuticle," which revests the starfish tube foot, has been studied by electron microscopy and thc findings correlated with histochemical observations. 'The "cuticlc" is composed by two distinct zoncs; an outer zone including numerous microvilli, which extend from lhe inner zone into and through a fibrillar substance distinctly organized in two layers. These microvilli protrude slightly beyond the outer surface, where thcir tips give rise to numerous extremely delicate fibrils. The second inner zone, of quite variablc thickness and condensation of material, presents a coarser fibrous matrix where organelles and inclusions can be found.

The wholc cuticular complex docs nut dcrive from thc majority of the epithclial cells, but is probably an extension of a special kind of I'-shaped cells appcaring at inlervals, thc "cuticle" forming a syncytial surface.

Ilistochemical investigations indicate that the "cuticlc" contains a combination of neulral