The fibrous system in the extracellular matrix of hydromedusae

Abstract

The ultrastructure and the histochemistry of the fibrous system in the mesogloeal extracellular matrix (ECM) of two hydromedusae ( Polyorchis penicillatus and Aglanlha digitale) has been examined. There is a fundamental difference in the architecture of the fibrous system between the two species. In Polyorchis, 60–150 Å thick, striated fibrils with periodicities of 60–65 Å form a three-dimensional network which fills in the entire ECM of outer and inner mesogloea. In the outer mesogloea vertical fibres (up to 1.8 μm in diameter) penetrate the threedimensional network and branch near the exumbrellar and subumbrellar side. These branches impinge on a dense matrix covering the exumbrellar and subumbrellar surface. In Aglantha the branches of thick vertical fibres anchor at the subumbrellar side in a dense plexus (0·2–0·3 μm in thickness) which consists of two types of fibrils (35–40 and 80–100 nm in diameter). Towards the exumbrellar side the vertical fibres branch and intermingle with a meshwork of non-striated fibrils with uniform diameter (35–40 nm). These fibrils form a laminated structure (about 1 μm in thickness) so that fibrils of each layer course in the same direction but fibrils of adjacent layers run perpendicularly to each other. The banded pattern with periodicities of 600–640 Å observed in the electron microscope and by histochemical methods confirm the thick vertical fibres and their branches to be a collagen. There is also strong evidence that the laminated structure in Aglantha represents layers of collagen fibrils.