Nerve-acinar Cell Relationships in the Rat Parotid Gland

Ultrastructural studies have shown that many exocrine glands receive their autonomic innervation through close (180-250 A) apposition of the nerve and acinar cell membranes (1, 5, 14, 16, 17, 20, 23-25). The nerve terminations or varicosities often lie in a groove on the surface of the acinar cell, or are closely apposed to two or more acinar cells by lying in the intercellular space between the cells . No specializations of the nerve or acinar cell membranes have been observed, but it is assumed that functional contacts do exist in these regions of close apposition . This report describes a type of subsurface cistern in the acinar cells of the rat parotid gland at regions of close apposition of nerves and acinar cells .