Nonrandom positioning of Golgi apparatus in pancreatic B cells

The Golgi apparatus has a polarized distribution in a variety of cell types, and in certain epithelia its intracellular position correlates with the direction of vectorial transport and release of secretory products. We have studied quantitatively the orientation of the Golgi apparatus in pancreatic islet B cells by examining its location with respect to the juxtacapillary face of the cell. This was done a) at the light microscope level on semithin sections of osmium-impregnated islets, and b) at the ultrastructural level on thin sections of intact pancreas. The data obtained with both methods show that in pancreatic B cells the Golgi apparatus is preferentially located in the position opposite to the juxtacapillary face of the cell. These results suggest a structural polarization of B cells, which may be important for the coordinate function of islets of Langerhans.