Appearance of peculiar epithelial cells in the epididymal duct of the mouse ligated epididymis.
The mouse epididymis was ligated at the junction of the head and body at 20 to 30 days or 90 days of age, and examined by light and electron microscopy 30 days after ligation. In the normal mouse, the lumen of the duct in the corpus epididymidis was distended with abundant spermatozoa and PAS-positive material. In the epididymis ligated at 20 to 30 days, the duct of the corpus was decreased in diameter and contained no spermatozoa and little PAS-positive material in the lumen. Peculiar pale, vacuolated cells appeared scattered or clustered in the epithelium in this region. The cells often formed intercellular cysts. The vacuoles and intercellular cysts had long microvilli on their inner surface. In the epididymis ligated at 90 days, few or no pale cells were seen in the epithelium of the duct. These findings imply that the differentiation of the epithelial cells is dependent on the luminal contents of the epididymal duct.
D000818:Animals; D002454:Cell Differentiation; D004822:Epididymis / Q000032:analysis / Q000473:pathology* / Q000648:ultrastructure; D004848:Epithelium / Q000473:pathology; D006023:Glycoproteins / Q000032:analysis; D008026:Ligation; D008297:Male; D051379:Mice; D008815:Mice, Inbred Strains; D008854:Microscopy, Electron; D008938:Mitosis
D006023:Glycoproteins