Amemiya F, Ushiki T, Goris R C, Atobe Y, Kusunoki T
Department of Anatomy, Yokohama City University School of Medicine, Yokohama-shi, Japan.
Anat Rec. 1996 Sep;246(1):135-46. doi: 10.1002/(SICI)1097-0185(199609)246:1<135::AID-AR15>3.0.CO;2-Q.
Crotaline snakes possess a pair of infrared-sensing pit organs that aid the eyes in the detection and apprehension of prey. The morphology of the receptors in the pit organs has been studied by light and transmission electron microscopy, and the ultrastructure of the receptors has been inferred from the results of this work. But this theoretical reconstruction has never been confirmed by any kind of three-dimensional imaging.
We treated the receptor-containing membrane of the pit organs with potassium hydroxide to remove collagen and expose the receptors, which we then viewed by scanning electron microscopy.
We were able to obtain three-dimensional views of all structures previously reported to exist within the receptor-containing membrane: terminal nerve masses formed from free nerve endings, supporting Schwann cells within the nerve masses, unmyelinated and myelinated nerve fibers, a capillary bed, and vacuole cells.
By providing the first three-dimensional views of the infrared receptors, we have confirmed that previous theoretical reconstructions of the receptors were substantially correct and have provided new evidence of the spatial arrangement of the receptors in a monolayer array.
响尾蛇拥有一对红外感应颊窝器官，可辅助眼睛探测和捕捉猎物。已通过光学显微镜和透射电子显微镜研究了颊窝器官中感受器的形态，并根据这项工作的结果推断出了感受器的超微结构。但这种理论重建从未通过任何三维成像得到证实。
我们用氢氧化钾处理颊窝器官中含有感受器的膜，以去除胶原蛋白并暴露感受器，然后通过扫描电子显微镜观察。
我们能够获得先前报道的存在于含有感受器的膜内的所有结构的三维视图：由游离神经末梢形成的终末神经团、神经团内的支持施万细胞、无髓鞘和有髓鞘的神经纤维、毛细血管床和液泡细胞。
通过提供红外感受器的首张三维视图，我们证实了先前对感受器的理论重建基本正确，并提供了感受器以单层阵列形式排列的空间新证据。
