Linked Life Data

6304332

Source:http://linkedlifedata.com/resource/pubmed/id/6304332

Statements in which the resource exists as a subject.
PredicateObject
rdf:type
lifeskim:mentions
pubmed:issue
1
pubmed:dateCreated
1983-7-8
pubmed:abstractText
The lining of the vaginal mucosa in primates is a keratinized stratified squamous epithelium. As in other structurally similar epithelia, one function of the vaginal epithelium is to provide a barrier between the external environment and the underlying tissues. The vaginal lining is aglandular and the source of true vaginal fluid has been suggested to be the intercellular channels of the epithelium. On the other hand, other structurally similar epithelia have been shown to have a barrier to the movement of water-soluble molecules through these channels. In the present study, we have examined the permeability of rhesus monkey vaginal epithelium to lanthanum and horseradish peroxidase. Both tracer molecules penetrated the intercellular channels in the lower layers of the epithelium, but were excluded from the channels at and above the granular layer. Neither tracer penetrated significantly between cells at the free surface of the epithelium and usually did not penetrate between cells in the upper layers to any degree from the cut edges of the biopsy. These results are consistent with tracer studies in other structurally similar epithelia and strongly suggest that the upper layers of vaginal epithelium present a barrier to the movement of water-soluble molecules through the intercellular channel system. Freeze-fracture analysis of the epithelium revealed gap junctions and desmosomes between cells in the lower layers, but the former disappear in the upper layers. Unlike other keratinizing epithelia that have been described, random intramembranous particles do not disappear from the plasma membranes of the fully differentiated cells. Fracture planes through the upper layers reveal particle-free lamellae in the intercellular spaces, supporting the idea that intercellular lipids may be one of the components that limits the permeability of the intercellular spaces in this epithelium.
pubmed:grant
pubmed:language
eng
pubmed:journal
pubmed:citationSubset
IM
pubmed:chemical
pubmed:status
MEDLINE
pubmed:month
Apr
pubmed:issn
0022-5320
pubmed:author
pubmed:issnType
Print
pubmed:volume
83
pubmed:owner
NLM
pubmed:authorsComplete
Y
pubmed:pagination
99-110
pubmed:dateRevised
2007-11-14
pubmed:meshHeading
pubmed:year
1983
pubmed:articleTitle
The permeability of nonhuman primate vaginal epithelium: a freeze-fracture and tracer-perfusion study.
pubmed:publicationType
Journal Article, Research Support, U.S. Gov't, P.H.S.