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A Scanning Electron Microscopic Study on the Thyroid Follicle of the Hagfish Eptatretus burgeri
Author(s) -
Suzuki Shintaro,
Kawabata Isuzu
Publication year - 1988
Publication title -
acta zoologica
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.414
H-Index - 37
eISSN - 1463-6395
pISSN - 0001-7272
DOI - 10.1111/j.1463-6395.1988.tb00922.x
Subject(s) - hagfish , biology , follicle , follicular cell , epithelium , cilium , thyroid , cytoplasm , anatomy , follicular phase , microbiology and biotechnology , endocrinology , vertebrate , biochemistry , genetics , gene
Abstract The external form of the follicles was mostly spherical or oval and the large oval follicles reached more than 300 times 180 μm in size. Cytoplasmic inclusions of various sizes were observed in the follicular epithelium. Follicles were composed of hexagonal epithelial cells, and on the apical surface of the cells many microvilli were found (380–500 microvilli per cell) with globular or amorphic cytoplasmic protrusions. In a few cells a central cilium was also observed. From these results a relationship between thyroid structure and function in the hagfish is discussed.