Transporting Epithelia

This is an interesting 91 page volume which deals with structural properties of different kinds of epithelia known to transport substances. This monograph starts with some comments about the role which the epithelium plays in the physiology of the animal. Some current concepts about the functional organization of epithelial transport systems in general are discussed in a nonquantitative way. This may be of help to the reader to gain some idea about some problems involved in an accurate functional description of epithelial transport. In the next section, which comprises 4 pp., the structural characteristics of transporting cells such as membrane asymmetry, junctions, mitochondria, and myoid elements are discussed. The bulk of this monograph is dedicated to the description of a wide range of epithelial transport systems. A similar format is used to summarize the essential features of each epithelium. In their discussion the authors cover epithelia involved in osmotic and ionic regulation from protonephridia of invertebrates to the mammalian kidney, epithelia of the digestive tract ranging from salivary glands to rumen, and epithelia that produce special secretions such as milk, endolymph, aqueous humor, cerebrospinal fluid, sweat, and tears. The structure of each of these epithelia is described with the aid of detailed diagrams which are related to the presented electron micrographs. An attempt is made to correlate the structure of these tissues with their physiological properties. The monograph contains besides over 300 most morphologically oriented references a supplementary bibliography which includes review articles and papers about various epithelial transporting systems. No attempt was made, however, to assemble a comprehensive review of the vast literature in the fields of physiology and ultrastructure. This monograph provides an interesting survey of the structural aspects of a wide variety of epithelial tissues and the numerous and detailed diagnosis help to direct the readers attention towards functional intricacies of these tissues.