Endothelial cell junctions in the ciliary body microvasculature. A freeze-fracture study in the rabbit

Abstract

Endothelial cells of the microvasculature (arterioles, fenestrated capillaries, and small venules) of the rabbit ciliary body have been examined in freeze-fracture replicas in ultrahigh vacuum and at very low temperatures, with special regard to their junctional boundaries. The junctional complexes of fenestrated capillaries and venular endothelium are discontinuous and do not seal the interendothelial clefts. They cannot be compared with zonulae occludentes or tight junctions, while the junctions in the arteriolar endothelium are continuous and well organized, suggesting a very low degree of paracellular permeability. It would be of interest to know if these structural differences at the junctional level in each segment of the microvasculature correspond to different paracellular permeability properties.