Sizes of Components in Frog Skeletal Muscle Measured by Methods of Stereology

Stereological techniques of point and intersection counting were used to measure morphological parameters from light and electron micrographs of frog skeletal muscle. Results for sartorius muscle are as follows: myofibrils comprise 83% of fiber volume; their surface to volume ratio is 3.8 mum-1. Mitochondria comprise 1.6% of fiber volume. Transverse tubules comprise 0.32% of fiber volume, and their surface area per volume of fiber is 0.22 mum-1. Terminal cisternae of the sarcoplasmic reticulum comprise 4.1% of fiber volume; their surface area per volume of fiber is 0.54 mum-1. Longitudinal sarcoplasmic reticullum comprises 5.0% of fiber volume, and its surface area per volume of fiber is 1.48 mum-1. Longitudinal bridges between terminal cisternae on either side of a Z disk were observed infrequently; they make up only 0.035% of fiber volume and their surface area per volume of fiber is 0.009 mum-1. T-SR junction occurs over 67% of the surface of transverse tubules and over 27% of the surface of terminal cisternae. The surface to volume ratio of the caveolae is 48 mum-1; caveolae may increase the sarcolemmal surface area by 47%. Essentially the same results were obtained from semitendinosus fibers.