INTERCELLULAR CANALICULI OF SALIVARY GLANDS SERVE AS A DEVICE FOR SECRETION OF ELECTROLYTES AND FLUIDS

Abstract

The structure of parotid serous cells of the musk shrew was examined by transmission electron microscopy with special reference to intercellular canaliculi. Parotid serous cells possessed an intricate system of intercellular canaliculi associated with well-developed basolateral interdigitations. These two structures were demarcated by leaky limiting junctions of extreme luminal-basal shallowness. Mitochondria often accompanied interdigitations. The intercellular canaliculi together with the basolateral interdigitations are considered to favour the secretion of primary saliva by the model of Silva et al. (28) and of Poulsen et al. (21).