Abstract
Knowledge of luminal and basolateral acinar cell membrane areas of the secretory endpieces is a prerequisite for a detailed quantitative analysis of the ion transport involved in secretion of the primary saliva. In the present study, these areas were estimated in rat parotid acinar cells using standard stereological methods. A total of 480 micrographs — obtained by random sampling from eight glands from four rats — were analysed at a final magnification of 40000x. Expressed per unit cell volume, the area of the luminal acinar cell membrane was: 0.125 μm2 · μm−3 (SEM=0.027 μm2 · μm−3, n=4 animals) and the area of the basolateral membrane was: 1.54 μm2 · μm−3 (SEM=0.085 μm2 · μm−3, n=4 animals). These figures make it possible to perform a synthesis based upon different categories of experimental data, e.g. on ion fluxes, membrane potentials and single-channel conductances. Thus, we have estimated the density of open, low-conductance Cl− channels in the luminal membrane — which are not readily accessible for direct, patch-clamp analysis — to be approximately 18 channels per μm2 in the stimulated state.
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Poulsen, J.H., Bundgaard, M. Quantitative estimation of the area of luminal and basolateral membranes of rat parotid acinar cells: some physiological applications. Pflugers Arch. 429, 240–244 (1994). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00374318
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00374318