The effects of several cationic polymers (poly-L-lysines, protamine, and histone) on rabbit gall bladder epithelial cells were studied to explore possible roles for negative sites in the membrane. The tissue was bathed for 30 min at 37°C in Ringer's solutions containing from 0.1 to 100.0 µg/ml of cationic polymers, and subsequently was fixed with 1% OsO4 and examined with the electron microscope. All cationic polymers, at appropriate concentrations, produced similar changes in membrane structure. Adjacent membranes frequently were fused. Membrane structures such as microvilli lost rigidity. Cell membranes showed an apparent increase in permeability as judged by osmotically traumatized cells. These results indicate that fixed anionic sites play significant roles in stabilizing epithelial membrane structures.
Article|
March 01 1973
A ROLE FOR ANIONIC SITES IN EPITHELIAL ARCHITECTURE : Effects of Cationic Polymers on Cell Membrane Structure
P. M. Quinton,
P. M. Quinton
From the Department of Biology, Rice University, Houston, Texas 77006.
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C. W. Philpott
C. W. Philpott
From the Department of Biology, Rice University, Houston, Texas 77006.
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P. M. Quinton
From the Department of Biology, Rice University, Houston, Texas 77006.
C. W. Philpott
From the Department of Biology, Rice University, Houston, Texas 77006.
Dr. Quinton's present address is the Department of Physiology, University of California at Los Angeles Medical School, Los Angeles, California 90024.
Received:
July 28 1972
Revision Received:
September 28 1972
Online ISSN: 1540-8140
Print ISSN: 0021-9525
Copyright © 1973 by The Rockefeller University Press
1973
J Cell Biol (1973) 56 (3): 787–796.
Article history
Received:
July 28 1972
Revision Received:
September 28 1972
Citation
P. M. Quinton, C. W. Philpott; A ROLE FOR ANIONIC SITES IN EPITHELIAL ARCHITECTURE : Effects of Cationic Polymers on Cell Membrane Structure . J Cell Biol 1 March 1973; 56 (3): 787–796. doi: https://doi.org/10.1083/jcb.56.3.787
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