3.25 in. x 4 in. Lantern Slides, Dr. V. T. Marchesi from Yale and colleagues took advantage of the high purity of red cell ghosts obtained by hypotonic lysis to analyze the properties of membrane proteins. They identified spectrin (from the Latin specere, to look at - or ghost) as a major red cell membrane cytoskeletal protein responsible for maintaining the biconcave shape of red cells. In hereditary spherocytosis, spectrin is mutated resulting in anemias due to greater fragility of red cells which cannot assume a biconcave shape., and Original Magnification: x25,000
3.25 in. x 4 in. Lantern Slides, Images such as these indicated that secretory granules closely and selectively approach the apical membrane of the pancreatic acinar cell where exocytosis takes place, fuse with the apposed membrane, and release the content of secretory proteins into the acinar lumen without broaching the intracellular environment. The resulting omega figure is transitory, suggesting that the excess granule membrane is retrieved/recycled. Note the actin coat around the newly inserted granule membrane. The reference below expands on this observation 33 years later., and Original Magnification: x48,000
