Aggregated plasmalemmal vesicles and microvilli in human astrocytoma

Abstract

Plasmalemmal vesicles and microvilli or filopodia in human astrocytoma were examined with thin-section and freeze-fracture techniques. The plasmalemmal vesicles, although sparsely scattered in distribution, were often aggregated in a curvilinear, semicircular, or circular fashion, and the involved plasma membrane was often protruded externally like a mound. Microvilli or filopodia were cross-fractured when fracture travelled within the plasma membrane resulting in a fracture face interrupted by numerous holes of cytoplasms. The microvilli were distributed in a concentrated manner on the free suface of the cell and often closely oriented in a linear, curvilinear, or circular fashion. They varied in size, form, and length. When they were arisen from a common hillock of the plasma membrane, its fracture face was elongated, up to 0.8 μ in length. Fenestrae were occasionally visible in attenuated cytoplasm which surrounded peripheral vacuole in the cell.