Ultrastructural changes in development and aging of the interrenal cell of the salamander, Hynobius nebulosus

The fine structure of interrenal cells in the salamander, Hynobius nebulosus, from prometamorphic larvae to its adult stage, was observed with electron and light microscopes. In all the animals examined the interrenal cell clusters were located at the medial edge of the ventral surface along the total length of each kidney, suggestive of a primitive nature. In larval salamanders, the interrenal cells contained small to moderate numbers of lipid droplets, and their cytoplasm was filled with a tubular network of smooth endoplasmic reticulum (SER) and numerous mitochondria with tubulo-vesicular cristae. In the adult and young adult salamanders, however, most interrenal cells were filled with lipid droplets, so that both tubular SER and mitochondria were decreased in amount in inverse proportion to the increased lipid droplets. These mitochondria frequently contained a crystalloid structure composed of closely packed tubules which were continuous with the cristae. These findings suggest that the interrenal cells in the larvae are more active than those in the adult or young adult salamanders. In addition, the interrenal cells at the end of metamorphosis contained a greater number of enlarged mitochondria with loosely distributed tubular cristae and with a less dense matrix and more numerous membrane-bounded dense bodies, 0.1-0.3 micron in diameter, than those at the prometamorphic stage. These findings suggest that the cells are their most active at this stage. In the prometamorphic larvae, bundles of filaments frequently occurred in the cytoplasm, especially around the nucleus. These filaments gradually decreased in number with the advance of age, and in young adult salamanders they appeared only occasionally.