[Scanning electron microscopic study of keratohyaline granules in the oral epithelium of rats]

Scanning electron microscopy of rat buccal epithelium on deparaffinized or epon-etched sections provided observations of intracellular structures especially of keratohyaline granules. Cell-walls and nuclei were easily observable and the two types of keratohyaline granules already seen in transmission electron microscopy were identified namely intracytoplasmic or intranuclear single granules and composite granules with a heterogeneous structure which appeared clearly in the scanning method. Tridimensional information from scanning electron microscopy adds significantly to knowledge of keratohyaline granules morphology, so far studied with the transmission method only.