Figure 3

Transmission electron microscopic (× 6600) analysis of the progressive alterations induced within the endometrial epithelial cell layers of db/db mutants relative to expanding intracytoplasmic lipid pools in the basal (Lb) and perinuclear (Ln) compartments of affected cells. The prominent convolutions of the basal lamina (bl) of cells demonstrating enormous Lb accumulations were coincident with the recognized expansion of the perinuclear space (pns) in regions associated with Ln contact, or approximation with, the external nuclear envelope (arrows). The prominent nuclear membrane contact by Ln vacuoles occurred along all nuclear membrane planes, often in association with membrane invagination into the nuclear (n) compartment.