Abstract
The NaOH cell-maceration method was applied to the mouse colorectal mucosa to demonstrate the threedimensional architecture of the lamina propria, especially that of the glandular crypts. In the surface of the lamina propria, there existed the longitudinal ridges and furrows. In the ridges, the crypts opened to the lumen individually, and had no internal partitions separating a crypt. The lateral walls of the crypts in the ridges had numerous hemispherical concavities into which the epithelial cells were tightly fitted. In the furrows, on the other hand, the crypts were subdivided into several smaller crypts by the internal partitions, and were termed as the "protocrypts". Considered from these findings, the crypts in the ridges appear to be matured, while the protocrypts in the furrows to the crypts undergoing process of proliferation. Further, it is suggested that the crypts proliferate in the furrows and, then, populate in the ridges as the mature crypts.
