Cilia in the porcine bile ductule: motile or sensory?

Abstract

Oligociliated epithelial cells or cells with a solitary cilium were observed lining hepatic bile ductules in pigs. The cilia were situated in the midst of microvilli, and arose from a basal body that was located in the vicinity of the free surface of the epithelium. The axonemal pattern revealed in transverse sections of the cilia was 7 + 1, 8 + 1, 8 + 2 or 9 + 0, Although devoid of the classical axoneme pattern, we assume some of the cilia to be motile, and other to be sensory structures that would assist bile formation and secretion.