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The ultrastructure of the duct system in the rat extraorbital lacrimal gland

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Summary

The duct system of the rat exorbital lacrimal gland consists of intercalated ducts, interlobular ducts and excretory ducts. The morphological changes from one type of duct to the next are gradual. At the light microscopical level this consists of a change from a bilaminar epithelium in the intercalated ducts to an epithelium, consisting of approximately three layers — which may be pseudostratified — in the excretory ducts. The basal layer of the intercalated ducts consists of myoepithelial cells, whereas the inner epithelial cells may have both a secretory and an electrolyte transporting function. The interlobular duct epithelium contains many cells with deep infoldings of the basolateral plasma membranes and associated mitochondria, suggesting a similar function to the striated duct epithelium in salivary glands. Numerous basal cells in this epithelium have tentatively been interpreted as unusual myoepithelial cells. Nerve terminals have been observed in the ductal epithelium.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Departments of Physiology and Histology, University of Sydney, Australia

    J. H. Alexander, J. A. Young & E. W. van Lennep

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  1. J. H. Alexander
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  2. J. A. Young
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  3. E. W. van Lennep
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Additional information

This work was supported by the National Health and Medical Research Council of Australia. — We wish to thank Mrs. Eva Vasak for her expert technical assistance.

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Alexander, J.H., Young, J.A. & van Lennep, E.W. The ultrastructure of the duct system in the rat extraorbital lacrimal gland. Z.Zellforsch 144, 453–466 (1973). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00307373

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00307373

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