Annulate Lamellae

Annulate lamellae are a specialized form of smooth endoplasmic reticulum membrane. They articulate from the nuclear membrane and form concentric layers of lamellae or, as seen here, membrane stacks. The cisternae show pore complexes 1 , which are identical to those of the nuclear pore complexes  . Osmiophilic material is more abundant in the pore regions. Annulate lamellae are prevalent in cells with a high membrane turnover, such as tumor cells, testicular Sertoli cells and gametes. This figure shows de-tails from a human oocyte.

1 Pores with osmiophilic material

2 Mitochondria

3 Granular ER (rER)

References

Kuehnel, W.(2003). Color Atlas of Cytology, Histology, and Microscopic Anatomy. 4^th edition . Institute of Anatomy Universitätzu Luebeck Luebeck, Germany . Thieme Stuttgar t · New York .