Absence of filipin-sterol complexes from the ciliary necklace of ependymal cells.

The polyene antibiotic filipin reacts specifically with membrane cholesterol and produces membrane perturbations. Prefixed vibratome slices of cat ependymal cells were treated with a glutaraldehyde solution containing 300 microM filipin. Freeze-fracture of these cells revealed numerous 25-30 nm protuberances on fracture faces (filipin-sterol complexes) in the ciliary membrane. In the ciliary necklace, however, these filipin-sterol complexes were absent. These results suggest that the ciliary necklace has a low cholesterol content.