title: Paracrystalline structures in the epithelial principal cells of the epididymis of water buffalo (Bubalus bubalis).
abstract: The ultrastructure of many principal cells in the cauda epididymis of water buffaloes with ages varying between 4, 18, 24, 30 and 36 months, revealed, in many cells, the presence of long, curved paracrystalline structures that are quite large and frequently encountered in the cytoplasm, usually near the nucleus. Concomitantly or not, smaller rod-like, hexagonal or curled structures can be found in the nucleus. Both structures, cytoplasmic and intranuclear, are made up of a sheath of parallel filaments. These paracrystals may appear as thin, regularly spaced filaments that are associated with fine, evenly spaced subunits. Occasionally, the association of paracrystalline structures with membranes similar to the endoplasmic reticulum was observed, but no membranes were consistently found in close contact with the nuclear crystalloids. It is postulated that both structures are proteinaceous and may represent stored enzymes or substances present in the intraluminal fluid, which are absorbed and initially stored in numerous intraepithelial vacuoles of the corpus and cauda of the buffalo epididymis.
authors.affiliation: Department of Biology, Universidade Federal do Pará, Belém, Brazil.
authors.forename: J N
authors.initials: JN
authors.lastname: Santos
authors.forename: H
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Dolder
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D002020:Buffaloes / Q000033:anatomy & histology*; D002467:Cell Nucleus / Q000648:ultrastructure; D003599:Cytoskeleton / Q000648:ultrastructure; D004822:Epididymis / Q000648:ultrastructure*; D008297:Male