Three-dimensional organization of smooth muscle cells in blood vessels of laboratory rodents

SummaryThree-dimensional aspects of smooth muscle cells of the microvas-culature were studied ultrastructurally in laboratory rodents by means of serial thin sections and reconstruction of muscle cell models. It was demonstrated that a muscle cell of an arteriole (luminal diameter (LD) 17 μm) in hamster striated muscle was spindle-shaped, 70 μm long, and wound twice round the vessel axis. The volume of the cell was calculated as 750 μm3 and its surface area as 1330 μm2. A muscle cell in an arteriole (LD 6 μm) in the rat retina was irregular in shape, about 22 μm long, and had branched processes. The cell volume was calculated as 139 μm3 and its surface area as 298 μm2.

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