The electron microscopy of the choroid plexus

Abstract

1. The choroid plexus of the rat has been studied in detail by electron microscopy. Samples from the frog, rabbit, and cat have also been examined without noting significant differences. 2. The surface of the ependymal epithelium is covered by pedicels of variable size. There is reason for thinking of these structures as labile. They may actually pinch off and contribute to the secretory product. In any case, the surface area is vastly increased by their presence. Polypoid border seems an apt term to apply to this type of surface. 3. There is also a great expansion of the basal surface of ependymal cells. In the vicinity of cell junctions this surface is deeply infolded, and continuous with elaborate interdigitations of the lateral intercellular surfaces. Analogous infolding of the basal cell surface is known to exist in other epithelia also noted for their water transport (kidney tubules, salivary gland, and ciliary body). 4. Pretreatment of rats with diamox, an agent known to block cerebro-spinal fluid production, did not produce an important morphological change in the features of the ependyma, or any other part of the choroid plexus. 5. Capillaries of the choroid plexus have a very attenuated endothelium. This is seen to be fenestrated. It is thought this probably represents the condition in life, and is not simply a fixation artefact. 6. Pial cells tend to interpose sheets of cytoplasm between the capillaries and ependyma. The sheets are not continuous, however, and so would not constitute a serious diffusion barrier. These cells belong to the reticuloendothelial system, and undergo shape changes, and probably increase in number, when the system is stimulated by the repeated injection of trypan blue.