The ultrastructure of the basilar membrane in the cat.

Presented as part of the Basic Research Forum at the Eighty-second Annual Meeting of the American Academy of Ophthalmology and Otolaryngology, Dallas, Oct 2-6, 1977. geneous ground substance and mesothelial cell layers. The homogeneous ground substance decreased in thickness, while the mesothelial cell layers increased from base to apex. The thickness of the fibrous portion was greater in the lower basal turn where the filaments occupied the entire membrane, while in the apex it decreased in thickness, being reduced to a thin layer with no intermediate bundles. The 8M thus had a compact aspect in the basal turn and a much looser and weaker appearance in the apical region.