Morphology and permeability of junctional complexes in maturing ameloblasts of rat incisors.

Thin sections of newborn rat incisors were examined by tracer experiments and freeze-fracture replication in order to clarify the morphology and permeability of ameloblast junctional complexes in the maturation stage. Ameloblast junctional complexes consisted of gaps and tight junctions at the proximal and distal ends. Whereas the proximal junctional complexes sealed extracellular spaces incompletely, the distal ones formed complete, belt-like barriers around the cell. Tight junctions of these junctional complexes, however, were composed of both continuous and discontinuous rows of particles with various spaces among them. Intravenously injected horseradish peroxidase (HRP) reached the enamel surface through the extracellular spaces among ameloblasts and was absorbed by ameloblasts of the ruffled borders. Pinocytosis and transcellular migration of HRP could not be demonstrated in maturing ameloblasts except in the ruffled border zone.