Occluding junctions of theNecturus gallbladder

Abstract

The paracellular conducting pathway of theNecturus gallbladder was studied with electrophysiological and electromicroscopic methods. The first one consists of the passage of short (5 msec) and small (32 μA cm⁻²) current pulses associated with a voltage scanning of the plane of the epithelium at the apical surface with a microelectrode to detect the regions where current flows. The procedure shows that (a) the conductance is evenly distributed along the intercellular regions along the intercellular spaces of the cells where occluding junctions are located; (b) the field above the occluding junctions has the shape of a bell, so that the junction can be sensed at 1–2 μm from the region where the intercellular space is visualized by light microscopy; (c) the intersections between three cells, in spite of having 3 half-junctions contributing (instead of two), do not have a higher conductance than the rest of the occluding junction. Scanning electron microscopy shows that (a) cells are densely covered by microvilli which interdigitate above the region of the occluding junctions, and (b) are covered by a surface coat. With transmission electron microscopy, (a) the opening of the occluding junctions at the apical border appears irregular, and most of them oblique; (b) in the last microns the actual mouth of the junction may deviate from the course of the interspace. Freeze-fracture replicas indicate that (a) the occluding junction has a uniform width and little variations in the number of strands around the cell, except (b) at intersections between 3 cells where both, its width and the number of strands, increase toward the basal region.