Home About us Contact
|
Home About us Contact | ||
|
|
||
Coarse Filaments (coarse + filament)
Selected AbstractsDifferentiation of the epidermis of scutes in embryos and juveniles of the tortoise Testudo hermanni with emphasis on beta-keratinizationACTA ZOOLOGICA, Issue 3 2005L. Alibardi Abstract The sequence of differentiation of the epidermis of scutes during embryogenesis in the tortoise Testudo hermanni was studied using autoradiography, electron microscopy and immunocytochemistry. The study was mainly conducted on the epidermis of the carapace, plastron and nail. Epidermal differentiation resembles that described for other reptiles, and the embryonic epidermis is composed of numerous cell layers. In the early stages of differentiation of the carapacial ridge, cytoplasmic blebs of epidermal cells are in direct contact with the extracellular matrix and mesenchymal cells. The influence of the dermis on the formation of the beta-layer is discussed. The dermis becomes rich in collagen bundles at later stages of development. The embryonic epidermis is formed by a flat periderm and four to six layers of subperidermal cells, storing 40,70-nm-thick coarse filaments that may represent interkeratin or matrix material. Beta-keratin is associated with the coarse filaments, suggesting that the protein may be polymerized on their surface. The presence of beta-keratin in embryonic epidermis suggests that this keratin might have been produced at the beginning of chelonian evolution. The embryonic epidermis of the scutes is lost around hatching and leaves underneath the definitive corneous beta-layer. Beneath the embryonic epidermis, cells that accumulate typical large bundles of beta-keratin appear at stage 23 and at hatching a compact beta-layer is present. The differentiation of these cells shows the progressive replacement of alpha-keratin bundles with bundles immunolabelled for beta-keratin. The nucleus is degraded and electron-dense nuclear material mixes with beta-keratin. In general, changes in tortoise skin when approaching terrestrial life resemble those of other reptiles. Lepidosaurian reptiles form an embryonic shedding layer and crocodilians have a thin embryonic epidermis that is rapidly lost near hacthing. Chelonians have a thicker embryonic epidermis that accumulates beta-keratin, a protein later used to make a thick corneous layer. [source] Epidermal differentiation in embryos of the tuatara Sphenodon punctatus (Reptilia, Sphenodontidae) in comparison with the epidermis of other reptilesJOURNAL OF ANATOMY, Issue 1 2007L. Alibardi Abstract Studying the epidermis in primitive reptiles can provide clues regarding evolution of the epidermis during land adaptation in vertebrates. With this aim, the development of the skin of the relatively primitive reptile Sphenodon punctatus in representative embryonic stages was studied by light and electron microscopy and compared with that of other reptiles previously studied. The dermis organizes into a superficial and deep portion when the epidermis starts to form the first layers. At embryonic stages comparable with those of lizards, only one layer of the inner periderm is formed beneath the outer periderm. This also occurs in lizards and snakes so far studied. The outer and inner periderm form the embryonic epidermis and accumulate thick, coarse filaments (25,30 nm thick) and sparse alpha-keratin filaments as in other reptiles. Beneath the embryonic epidermis an oberhautchen and beta-cells form small horny tips that represent overlapping borders along the margin of beta-cells that overlap other beta-cells (in a tile-like arrangement). The tips resemble those of agamine lizards but at a small scale, forming a lamellate-spinulated pattern as previously described in adult epidermis. The embryonic epidermis matures by the dispersion of coarse filaments among keratin at the end of embryonic development and is shed around hatching. The presence of these matrix organelles in the embryonic epidermis of this primitive reptile further indicates that amniote epidermis acquired interkeratin matrix proteins early for land adaptation. Unlike the condition in lizards and snakes, a shedding complex is not formed in the epidermis of embryonic S. punctatus that is like that of the adult. Therefore, as in chelonians and crocodilians, the epidermis of S. punctatus also represents an initial stage that preceded the evolution of the shedding complex for moulting. [source] Ultrastructure of the embryonic snake skin and putative role of histidine in the differentiation of the shedding complexJOURNAL OF MORPHOLOGY, Issue 2 2002Lorenzo Alibardi Abstract The morphogenesis and ultrastructure of the epidermis of snake embryos were studied at progressive stages of development through hatching to determine the time and modality of differentiation of the shedding complex. Scales form as symmetric epidermal bumps that become slanted and eventually very overlapped. During the asymmetrization of the bumps, the basal cells of the forming outer surface of the scale become columnar, as in an epidermal placode, and accumulate glycogen. Small dermal condensations are sometimes seen and probably represent primordia of the axial dense dermis of the growing tip of scales. Deep, dense, and superficial loose dermal regions are formed when the epidermis is bilayered (periderm and basal epidermis) and undifferentiated. Glycogen and lipids decrease from basal cells to differentiating suprabasal cells. On the outer scale surface, beneath the peridermis, a layer containing dense granules and sparse 25,30-nm thick coarse filaments is formed. The underlying clear layer does not contain keratohyalin-like granules but has a rich cytoskeleton of intermediate filaments. Small denticles are formed and they interdigitate with the oberhautchen spinulae formed underneath. On the inner scale surface the clear layer contains dense granules, coarse filaments, and does not form denticles with the aspinulated oberhautchen. On the inner side surface the oberhautchen only forms occasional spinulae. The sloughing of the periderm and embryonic epidermis takes place in ovo 5,6 days before hatching. There follow beta-, mesos-, and alpha-layers, not yet mature before hatching. No resting period is present but a new generation is immediately produced so that at 6,10 h posthatching an inner generation and a new shedding complex are forming beneath the outer generation. The first shedding complex differentiates 10,11 days before hatching. In hatchlings 6,10 h old, tritiated histidine is taken up in the epidermis 4 h after injection and is found mainly in the shedding complex, especially in the apposed membranes of the clear layer and oberhautchen cells. This indicates that a histidine-rich protein is produced in preparation for shedding, as previously seen in lizard epidermis. The second shedding (first posthatching) takes place at 7,9 days posthatching. It is suggested that the shedding complex in lepidosaurian reptiles has evolved after the production of a histidine-rich protein and of a beta-keratin layer beneath the former alpha-layer. J. Morphol. 251:149,168, 2002. © 2002 Wiley-Liss, Inc. [source] | ||||||||||