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Ultrastructural study reveals organized microtubule systems in hamster platelets, suggesting critical roles in cell shape and mechanical integrity.
The increasing frequency with which microtubules are observed in electron micrographs of many cell types has led to much speculation about the possible structural and functional significance of these cytoplasmic elements. Two basic interpretations have been made: that they serve as cytoskeletal elements has been suggested by the work of many investigators (3, 4, 5, 9, 10, 12, 16-18); that they perhaps function in the intracellular transport of various substances has also been suggested (3, 9, 10, 16-18). Incidental to recent light and electron microscope studies of hamster tissue, we have observed characteristic arrays of parallel microtubules in the ultrastructure of individual and clumped platelets. These microtubules are of the same basic dimensions as those previously reported in the literature.
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Haydon et al. (1965) studied this question.
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