Fig. 11. Replica of obliquely fractured chicken lens at low magnification demonstrating the homogeneous cytoplasm of the hexagonally shaped and packed lens fibers. Because of the narrow extracellular space, the fracture plane jumps between the p and e fracture faces. The narrow extracellular space does not widen at the fiber threefold axes (arrows), revealing a narrow and tortuous route for diffusion of molecules through extracellular spaces. (Goodenough DA: Lens gap junctions: A structural hypothesis for nonregulated low-resistance intercellular pathways. Invest Ophthalmol Vis Sci 18:1107, 1979) |