Complementary faces of the rod disc membrane in freeze-fracture replicas.

YAMAMOTO, T.Y., TONOSAKI, A. and WATANABE, H. Complementary Faces of the Rod Disc Membrane in Freeze-Fracture Replicas. Tohoku J. exp. Med., 1974, 113 (4), 313-317 Replicas from complementary freeze-fracture faces of the rabbit rod outer segments were examined in an electron microscope. By this method two dissimilar faces, A and B, were visualized in a disc. The A face, toward the inteadisc space, was characterized by densely packed particles, about 10 nm in diameter, rising on it; and the B face, toward the interdisc space, appear ed smooth with minute unevennesses. An A face always formed a complementary set with a B face, and vice versa. No evidence has been obtained to suggest that a disc membrane may split along two or more different fracture planes. freeze-fracture method; rod outer segment; visual cell; retina