title: Sealing of the follicular lumen of the anterior pituitary gland of the male rat.
abstract: It is commonly accepted that follicular lumina of the adult rat anterior pituitary gland are tightly sealed by junctional complexes, especially tight junctions. In this report, we describe the presence of follicular lumina that are unsealed. Peroxidase (HRP) was used to study such structures and when injected through the femoral vein, was observed in association with a few follicular lumina, on their microvilli and around the cilia of folliculo-stellate cells. The existence of peroxidase-positive follicles clearly shows that follicles of the hypophysis are not always firmly sealed by tight junctions. The folliculo-stellate cells which faced the peroxidase-positive follicles displayed HRP deposits which were membrane bound within their cytoplasm. These findings suggest an absorptive function for the folliculo-stellate cells.
authors.affiliation: First Department of Anatomy, Nagoya City University Medical School, Aichi, Japan.
authors.forename: Y
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Mabuchi
authors.forename: H
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Maruyama
authors.forename: T
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Yashiro
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Tanida
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Kurono
authors.forename: N
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Honda
authors.forename: H
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Kato
authors.forename: D C
authors.initials: DC
authors.lastname: Herbert
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D006735:Horseradish Peroxidase; D008297:Male; D008845:Microinjections; D008854:Microscopy, Electron; D010903:Pituitary Gland, Anterior / Q000166:cytology* / Q000648:ultrastructure*; D051381:Rats; D017208:Rats, Wistar; D019108:Tight Junctions / Q000502:physiology / Q000648:ultrastructure
chemical_list: D006735:Horseradish Peroxidase