Previous quantitative descriptions of cellular ultrastructure have focused on spatial content (volume, surface
area and number of organelles and membrane domains). It is possible to complement such descriptions by
also quantifying spatial arrangements. Hitherto, applications of stereological methods for achieving this
(notably, estimation of covariance and pair correlation functions) have been confined to organ and tissue
levels. This study explores 3-dimensional subcellular arrangements of key organelles within acinar cells of
rabbit parotid salivary glands, highly polarised epithelial cells specialised for exocrine secretion of α-amylase.
It focuses on spatial arrangements of secretion product stores (zymogen granules), rough endoplasmic
reticulum (RER) and mitochondria. Systematic random samples of electron microscopical fields of view
from 3 rabbits were analysed using test grids bearing linear dipole probes of different sizes. Unbiased
estimates of organelle volume densities were obtained by point counting and estimates of covariance and
pair correlation functions by dipole counting. Plots of pair correlation functions against dipole length
identified spatial arrangement differences between organelle types. Volumes within RER and mitochondrial
compartments were positively correlated with themselves at distances below 4 μm and 2 μm respectively but
were essentially randomly arranged at longer distances. In sharp contrast, zymogen granules were not
randomly arranged. They were clustered at distances below 6–7 μm and more widely scattered at greater
distances. These findings provide quantitative confirmation of the polarised arrangement of zymogen
granules within acinar cells and further support for the relative invariance of biological organisation between
subjects.