A correlated thin section and freeze-fracture study of mouse tracheal epithelium before and after ether anesthesia

Tracheal epithelium of mice anesthetized with ethyl ether was studied in the electron microscope with the techniques of thin sectioning and freeze fracture. After ether anesthesia, alterations in the tight junction between epithelial cells were observed. In the control animals, the junctional strands were either parallel or had a polygonal arrangement of continuous solid strands. After anesthesia, the junctional strands became fragmented. Other specializations of the membrane of epithelial cells such as gap junctions and rectilinear entities were not altered by ether.