Structure and origin of middle ear corpuscles.
The incidence, origin, structure and composition of middle ear corpuscles (MEC) were studied by dissection microscopy, by special stains and immunocytochemistry of histological sections and by transmission electron microscopy. MEC are formed within fibrous bands derived from transparent fibrous sheets which appear mainly in the mastoid antrum in the middle-aged and elderly. MEC are covered by a layer of epithelial cells with a normal basal lamina, and are largely composed of concentric layers of collagen which display alternating positive and negative birefringence. Pulmonary and prostatic corpora amylacea show a similar light microscopical structure and age relationship, but contain amyloid. It is suggested that MEC and the other bodies may be organized foci of epithelial basement membrane expansion perhaps derived from an in vivo counterpart of the "domes' seen in vitro in some monolayer epithelial cultures.
Michaels
L
L
Department of Histopathology, University College London Medical School, UK.
Liang
J
J
D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D001485:Basement Membrane / Q000648:ultrastructure; D003094:Collagen / Q000648:ultrastructure; D004432:Ear, Middle / Q000033:anatomy & histology*; D006801:Humans; D007124:Immunoenzyme Techniques; D008854:Microscopy, Electron; D008875:Middle Aged
D003094:Collagen