title: A three-dimensional reconstruction of the ruffled border of osteoclasts.
abstract: Osteoclasts of rat parietal bones were cultured and observed under the transmission electron microscope. The processes forming the ruffled border were studied three-dimensionally by a reconstruction method. After the observation of one plane (A-plane), serial ultrathin sections were made at right angles to the A-plane (B-plane). The processes of the ruffled border in the B-plane were reconstructed, based on the A-plane features, with Nikon Cosmozone 2S. The three-dimensional structure of the ruffled border of the osteoclasts was composed of two kinds of processes: one finger-like and the other plate-like. Both finger-like and plate-like processes branched from the stem processes projecting directly from the cell body. The long plate-like processes branched into secondary plates, extending perpendicularly to the bone surface.
authors.affiliation: Department of Oral Anatomy, Hokkaido University School of Dentistry, Sapporo, Japan.
authors.forename: T
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Domon
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Wakita
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D008854:Microscopy, Electron; D009924:Organ Culture Techniques; D010010:Osteoclasts / Q000648:ultrastructure*; D051381:Rats; D011919:Rats, Inbred Strains