Blood-testis barrier: evidence for intact inter-Sertoli cell junctions after hypophysectomy in the adult rat.
To study the hormonal dependence of the blood-testis barrier, adult rats were hypophysectomized and the ultrastructural integrity of the inter-Sertoli cell junctional complex was examined at various times with a lanthanum tracer technique. It was found that the structural integrity of the inter-Sertoli cell junctions and their capacity to exclude lanthanum from the adluminal compartment were preserved up to 35 days after hypophysectomy. Furthermore, transport of newly formed spermatocytes through the inter-Sertoli cell junctions still occurred 20 days after hypophysectomy. It is therefore concluded that the function of the inter-Sertoli cell junctional complex is not directly dependent on gonadotrophic or androgenic hormones, but is regulated by other mechanisms.
D000818:Animals; D001814:Blood-Testis Barrier; D007016:Hypophysectomy; D007365:Intercellular Junctions / Q000648:ultrastructure; D007811:Lanthanum / Q000378:metabolism; D008297:Male; D051381:Rats; D012708:Sertoli Cells / Q000648:ultrastructure*; D013737:Testis / Q000378:metabolism
D007811:Lanthanum