An ultrastructural study of sinuatrial node cells in the embryonic rat heart.

Sinuatrial nodal tissue, obtained from rat embryos of 15, 16 and 17 days, was examined with the electron microscope. Embryonic nodal cells were generally similar to adult cells except that (1) they showed thick prolongations of the cytoplasm which insinuated themselves between neighbouring cells; (2) they possessed osmiophilic granules with a predeliction for the region of the Golgi complex; (3) they exhibited a lesser and variable degree of pinocytosis.