Ultrastructural characteristics of the rat ventricular cell grown in tissue culture, with special reference to sarcomerogenesis

This study of the morphology of rat ventricular cells grown in tissue culture traces the development of subcellular systems in the activity growing myoblast, including the nucleus, the sarcoplasmic reticulum and intercellular connections. The data help elucidate the mechanisms of mitochondrial and sarcomeric proliferation in the mammalian myofiber and prompt a re-evaluation of postulated current concepts of the function of subcellular components. Implications of the anatomic differences between the growing nascent myoblast and the adult mammalian hypertrophying myofiber are discussed.