Figure 1

Transmission electron micrographs of hepatic stellate cells cultured in non-coated polystyrene culture dishes (panel a, b), on type I collagen gel (panel c, d), or on Matrigel (panel e, f). Panel a: close cell-cell contacts are detected between the stellate cells in non-coated polystyrene dishes. Bar = 500 nm. Panel b: enlarged image of the part of panel "a" indicated by the rectangle. Thin filaments and intermediate filaments are indicated by small- and large-sized arrows, respectively. Bar = 100 nm. Panel c: transmission electron micrograph of the cultured stellate cells on type I collagen gel. Bar = 500 nm. Panel d: enlarged image of the part of panel "c" marked by the rectangle. Bar = 100 nm. Panel e: transmission electron micrograph of the stellate cells on Matrigel. Bar = 1 –m. Panel f: enlarged image of the part of panel "e" covered by the rectangle. Bar = 200 nm. The cultured cells were examined with a TEM as described under Materials and Methods.