Endogenous peroxidase activity in brush cell-like cells in the large intestine of the bullfrog tadpole, Rana catesbeiana

Abstract

A special cell type was identified in the mucosal epithelium of the large intestine of the tadpole of the bullfrog, Rana catesbeiana. It is a slender, columnar cell, with a dark, basally situated nucleus. By electron microscopy the cell displays prominent bundles of filaments emerging from each microvillus and extending deep into the cytoplasm without ending in the terminal web. It has longer and more crowded microvilli than the absorptive cell. The specialized cell is also characterized by the presence of many apical vesicles and numerous subapical dense bodies. These cytological features suggest that it may be a brush cell (Rhodin and Dalhamn 1956). These cells displayed endogenous peroxidase activity in smooth and rough endoplasmic reticulum, in the well-developed Golgi apparatus and in apical vesicles. Furthermore, peroxidase reaction product was frequently observed on their luminal surface membrane. These findings suggest that the brush cell in the large intestine of the bullfrog tadpole may be a secretory cell.