ELECTRON MICROSCOPIC STUDIES ON REISSNERS FIBER AND EPENDYMAL CELLS IN SPINAL CORD OF RAT

Reissner's fiber is a compact bundle consisting of numerous straight, nonstriated filaments, about 50-100 Å in diameter, embedded in a complicated fibrous network. The bundle contains many small spaces lacking filaments. Small membrane-bounded spherical bodies are often found in the interfibrillar spaces. The ependymal cells of the central canal show several structural differences from those of the ventricles. From each of the cells one to four, mostly two, cilia extend into the canal and many basal processes extend in various directions. There is a thin layer of fine, straight, cross-striated filaments, about 50 Å in diameter, arranged parallel to the long axis of the central canal, within the apical junctional areas of the cells. © 1969 Springer-Verlag.