Morphological signs of merocrine secretion in the modified Sertoli cells of the domestic fowl (Gallus domesticus).
Testes of sexually mature White Leghorn cockerels were fixed by vascular perfusion with glutaraldehyde. Ultrastructural characteristics of the modified Sertoli cells typical of secretory activity included a large Golgi apparatus with dilated saccules, many smooth and coated vesicles, profiles of rough endoplasmic reticulum and dense granules surrounded by membranes in the Golgi area and in the basal and apical cytoplasm. Finely granulated dense bodies and some pinocytotic invaginations from the basal and lateral plasma membranes were also observed.
D000818:Animals; D002645:Chickens / Q000033:anatomy & histology*; D008297:Male; D008854:Microscopy, Electron; D012671:Seminiferous Tubules / Q000648:ultrastructure; D012708:Sertoli Cells / Q000502:physiology / Q000648:ultrastructure*