C-BODIES AND R-BODIES IN EPITHELIAL-CELLS OF NORMAL AND DISEASED HUMAN RECTUM

  • 1 January 1977
    • journal article
    • research article
    • Vol. 101  (8) , 437-441
Abstract
Small, spherical, extracellular bodies (C bodies), measuring 20-80 nm in diameter and enclosed by a trilaminar membrane 7 nm wide, surrounded the microvilli of human rectal epithelial cells. Similar bodies were observed within membrane-bound vesicles (R bodies) in the apical cytoplasm. The C bodies associated with the mature epithelial cells of the luminal surface were more numerous than those associated with the immature cells of the crypts, where the R bodies predominated. A decreased number of C bodies was observed in ulcerative colitis. The membrane-bound C bodies surrounding the microvilli were cellular in origin and arose from R bodies within the cytoplasm of the rectal epithelial cells.