The fine structure of nerve endings on rat thyroid follicular cells

Axon profiles in thyroid glands obtained from adult male Wistar rats were studied electron-microscopically, using common and serial thin sections. Bouton profiles of nerve fibers, resembling the terminal or en passant type, often appeared closely associated with vascular smooth muscle cells via basement membranes. These structures are probably adrenergic, since they contained mainly small-core vesicles (mean diameter: 41.2 nm), in addition to a few large-core (mean diameter: 88.4 nm) and flattened vesicles. Nerve fibers containing microtubules and sometimes mitochondria and vesicles were seen lying between basement membranes and follicular cells. The incidence of nerve fiber contacts on profiles of follicular cells was 0.0177 +/- 0.0092 (S.D.). Using serial sections, follicles were seen to have up to two nerve endings, separated from the plasma membranes of the follicular cells by a gap of 22 nm. They contained mainly flattened vesicles and several large-core vesicles (mean diameter: 95.1 nm). Small-core vesicles were rarely seen in these nerve endings. Furthermore, subsurface cistern-like rough endoplasmic reticulum was found immediately under the plasma membranes of follicular cells facing membranes of nerve endings. These results suggest that the nerve fibers in contact with follicular cells are different from the adrenergic type.