Ultrastructure of Reissner's membrane in the rabbit.

The ultrastructure of Reissner's membrane in the rabbit is described following vascular perfusion-fixation of live, anesthetized and artificially respirated healthy animals. A new and improved technique of fixation is employed that includes a pressure feedback controlled peristaltic pump and an oxygen-carrying fixative. In ultrathin sections capillaries were observed between the two cell layers comprising Reissner's membrane. The mesothelial cells facing the scala vestibuli were connected by junctional complexes and neither pores nor discontinuities were observed in the cell layer. In the epithelial cells a well-developed tubulocisternal endoplasmic reticulum (TER) was noted. Computerized three-dimensional reconstruction documented the continuity of this TER, from prominent disc-shaped subsurface cisterns lining the luminal cell membrane to smaller subsurface cisterns lining the abluminal and lateral cell membranes, forming a transcellular canalicular pathway. The possible function of the TER in Reissner's membrane is discussed with reference to endolymph/perilymph homeostasis.