Three-dimensional structure of intracellular membranous organelles in embryonic chick skeletal muscle cells in vitro revealed with scanning electron microscope

Using the freeze-polishing and osmium-maceration procedures, the ultrastructure of intracellular membranous organelles in embryonic chick skeletal muscle cells in vitro was investigated three-dimensionally with the scanning electron microscope (SEM). T-system tubules followed a tortuous course and possessed many warts. Some of these tubules could be traced to the sarcolemma. The sarcoplasmic reticulum (SR) had elaborate structures of a hexagonal pattern. By comparing the SEM images with those of ultrathin sections of myotubes impregnated with ferritin particles, the distinction between the T-system and SR was confirmed. Late in the culture, these two intracellular membranous systems were arranged periodically at right angles to the longitudinal axis of the myotubes. Round-shaped mitochondria were often arranged in chains connected with slender rods. Long rod-shaped mitochondria exhibited occasional branchings.