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Tendon collagen fibrillogenesis is a multistep assembly process as revealed by quick‐freezing and freeze‐substitution
Author(s) -
MalleinGérin Frédéric,
Garrone Robert
Publication year - 1990
Publication title -
biology of the cell
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.543
H-Index - 85
eISSN - 1768-322X
pISSN - 0248-4900
DOI - 10.1016/0248-4900(90)90323-u
Subject(s) - fibrillogenesis , biology , biophysics , substitution (logic) , process (computing) , tendon , anatomy , fibril , computer science , programming language , operating system
Summary— The ultrastructure of chick embryo tendons has been examined after quick‐freezing by liquid helium and freeze‐substitution. Several stages of collagen assemblies were observed: intracellular packing of SLS‐like aggregates surrounded by membrane containing areas with a clathrin coat; fine non cross‐striated filaments connecting the cell membrane at 1 pole of the cells and collagen fibrils; tufts of filaments directly linked to collagen fibrils. This study reveals that some stages are more constant and abundant than supposed (the intracellular SLS‐like aggregates) and that other extracellular assemblies that were hypothesized but usually badly preserved by conventional electron microscopy are clearly captured by the method.