Muscle cell membranes from early degeneration muscle cell fibers in Solenopsis are leaky to lanthanum: Electron microscopy and X‐ray analysis

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Abstract
Lanthanum infusion techniques, transmission electron microscopy, and X‐ray microanalysis were utilized to compare the permeability of muscle cell membranes from normal and degenerating muscle fibers of Solenopsis spp. In normal fibers, the electron‐dense tracer was limited to components of the sarcotubular system. However, the insemination‐induced degeneration of muscle fibers was characterized by the presence of an electron‐dense precipitate within the myofibrils and mitochondria as well as in the extramyofibrillar spaces. The electron‐dense material was subsequently identified by elemental analysis to be lanthanum. Such data indicate that one of the earliest stages of muscle degeneration involves an alteration in cell membrane permeability.