Functional microanatomy of initial lymphatics with special consideration of the extracellular matrix.

In current conceptions on the functional morphology of initial lymphatics, the extracellular matrix (ECM) as an integral part of the lymphatic vascular wall has not been duly considered. In the present study based on scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and confocal laser scanning microscopy (CLSM) of tongue tissue in rats, new insights were obtained into both the architecture of the fibrous network of the ECM and its functional features. A digestion technique was applied, by which the endothelium of initial lymphatics was detached thereby allowing a direct view of the ECM from both sides.

Fluorescence microscopic studies on hemal lymph nodes in rats: a new immunobiological concept.

Hemal lymph nodes are characterized by a high content of blood cells most of them in different stages of erythrophagocytosis. These peculiar structures are not well understood up to now regarding their functional morphology. Above all, their biological relevance, especially to the phenomenon of disintegration of one's own blood cells, has eluded conclusive explanation so far.

Casting methods of scanning electron microscopy applied to hemal lymph nodes in rats.

Hemal lymph nodes of the para-aortic group in rats were examined by scanning electron microscopy (SEM) using the corrosion cast technique. The vasoarchitecture of hemal lymph nodes was described in cast specimens filled from the abdominal aorta. A dense system of capillaries arranged in the mode of a meshwork could be represented in the nodal cortex.

Examination of injected specimens by confocal laser scanning microscopy and scanning electron microscopy.

Although corrosion casts commonly examined by scanning electron microscopy (SEM) offer good insights into the general arrangement of the microvasculature of certain organs, no information can be obtained from such specimens on special morphological data or dynamic events. Thus, most investigators are obliged to make their interpretations of cast structures only on the basis of indirect criteria. A synopsis, which considers the most important data in that respect, is given for the blood and lymphatic microvessels.