Abstract
Quantitative differences in cellular association of adrenomedullary chromaffin cells with other types of cells, mainly supporting cells, were studied. Adrenaline (A) and noradrenaline (NA) cells were compared. Electron micrographs (12000 x) of profiles of A and NA cells, bordering against other types of cells, were used for quantitative evaluation. Supporting cells constituted the majority of the non-chromaffin cell types. Occurrence frequencies of chromaffin cells contiguous with other types of cells were: (1) higher for A cells (68.9%, 199/289) than for NA cells (11.0%, 34/309) in case of small contact regions (χ2-test: P<0.001) and (2) higher for NA cells (68.3%, 211/309) than for A cells (9.7%, 28/289) in case of extended contact regions (P<0.001). In conclusion, the extent of cellular association with supporting cells was remarkably lower in A cells than in NA cells. Such an arrangement is likely to be appropriate for the extensive, homogeneous control and amplified response characteristic of A cells, and for the close range, complex control and more diverse responses characteristic of NA cells.
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The authors, TK, TS and GT, wish to dedicate their part of this work to Dr. W.B. Quay on the occasion of his 65th birthday
Supported in part by The Karoji Memorial Fund for Medical Research in Hirosaki University, Japan
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Kachi, T., Suzuki, T., Takahashi, G. et al. Differences between adrenomedullary adrenaline and noradrenaline cells: quantitative electron-microscopic evaluation of their differential cellular association with supporting cells. Cell Tissue Res 271, 257–261 (1993). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00318611
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00318611