Ultrastructure of transitional epithelium of man

Summary Blocks of human normal renal pelvis and ureter obtained at the time of surgery were fixed in glutaraldehyde and osmium with or without ruthenium red, for electron microscopic observations. The transitional epithelium is arranged in three cell layers: basal, intermediate and superficial. All epithelial cells show numerous microvilli and contain the characteristic vesicles of transitional epithelium, bundles of cytoplasmic filaments, microtubules and numerous free ribosomes. The epithelial extracellular compartment is notably large and appears as an intricate, tridimensional network of canaliculi and cisternae which are wider in the intermediate and superficial layers and in which microvilli and cytoplasmic folds of vicinal cells are often attached or interdigitated. At these sites there are desmosomes.The surface of all transitional epithelial cells is covered by a fibrillar mucous coat which is more developed at the plasmalemma of the free border of luminal cells in which microvilli are also seen. Ruthenium red stains selectively the plasmalemma and the mucous coat of the free surface of the epithelium, indicating the presence of an acid polysaccharide. With this technic (Luft, 1965), it is observed, radiating from the plasmalemma, branching filaments which measure 100 Å in diameter forming a zone of varying density which is about 400 m wide and which corresponds, at the light microscopic level, to the luminal border of the transitional epithelial cells in which a sialomucin has been identified. The slender filaments have a beaded appearance. At the free border, superficial cells are attached by functional complexes in which tight junctions seal the epithelial intercellular space, which is opened at the level of the basement membrane where only desmosomes are observed.The ultrastructure of human transitional epithelium of urinary tract resembles the duct cells of the salt gland of certain marine birds (Fawcett, 1962) and the amphibian epidermis (Farquhar and Palade, 1965) in which there are active processes of transport. The mucous surface coat, selectively stained by the ruthenium red, contains a sialomucin (Monis and Dorfman, 1965, 1967).The ultrastructure and histochemistry of the mucous fluffy coat of man transitional epithelium and the observations of Porter and Tamm (1955), on the ultrastructure of preparations of the Tamm and Horsfall mucoprotein (1952) are bases for suggesting that transitional epithelium of urinary tract of man is the site of biosynthesis of certain urinary mucoids. Present investigations are directed to obtain evidence to substantiate this hypothesis.General Abbreviations B basal cell - E exfoliating cell - I intermediate cell - L lumen - S superficial cell - SC surface coat - bm basement membrane - ci cell infolding - d desmosome (macula adhaerens) - f fibroblast - fi cytoplasmic filaments - is intercellular space - jc junctional complex - ly lysosome - lym lymphocyte - mt microtubules - m mitochondria - mv microvilli - n nucleus - r ribosomes - rv round vesicle - zo zonula occludens - za zonula adherensDr. Monis wishes to thank Dr. E. De Robertis for the use of the electron microscope facilities of the Instituto de Anatomía General y Embriologia, Facultad de Medicina, Universidad de Buenos Aires. — Prof. E. Trabucco and Dr. R. J. Borzone (Cátedra de Clinica Genitourinaria de la Facultad de Medicina, Universidad de Buenos Aires) generously supplied the specimens which were the bases of this study. — Thanks are due to Mrs. A. M. Novara and Mrs. Defilippi-Novoa for efficient technical help and to Miss Rosa Gentile for secretarial assistance. Photomicrography by Mr. M. A. Saenz.Dr. Zambrano is investigator (CNICT).