Nadol J B, Mulroy M J, Goodenough D A, Weiss T F
Am J Anat. 1976 Nov;147(3):281-301. doi: 10.1002/aja.1001470304.
The auditory organ of the alligator lizard has been investigated with the transmission electron microscope using methods which distinguish between tight and gap junctions. There is a continuous zone of tight junctions located near the endolymphatic surface of the organ forming a boundary between the endolymph in scala media and the interstitial spaces between the cells. No such tight junctions were observed between the perilymph of scala tympani and the interstitial fluid within the organ. Small gap junctions occur between hair cells and supporting cells and large gap junctions occur between adjacent supporting cells. The locations of the tight junctions suggest that the composition of the intercellular fluid in the receptor organ is probably more like perilymph than like endolymph. The presence of gap junctions between hair cells and supporting cells provides a possible morphological basis for the occurrence of intracellular responses to sound in supporting cells, and for elctric coupling of receptor cells.
使用能够区分紧密连接和缝隙连接的方法，通过透射电子显微镜对鳄蜥的听觉器官进行了研究。在该器官内淋巴表面附近存在一个连续的紧密连接区域，形成了中阶内淋巴与细胞间间隙之间的边界。在鼓阶外淋巴与该器官内的组织液之间未观察到此类紧密连接。毛细胞与支持细胞之间存在小的缝隙连接，相邻支持细胞之间存在大的缝隙连接。紧密连接的位置表明，感受器器官中细胞间液的成分可能更类似于外淋巴而非内淋巴。毛细胞与支持细胞之间存在缝隙连接，为支持细胞中对声音产生细胞内反应以及感受器细胞的电偶联提供了可能的形态学基础。
