title: Cytoarchitectonical dynamic of Sertoli cells in Melanorivulus punctatus (Cyprinodontiformes: Rivulidae).
abstract: The Sertoli cell contributes to spermatogenesis acting in the differentiation of germ cells and being the only somatic cells present in the germinal compartment. So that spermatogenesis is primarily dependent of Sertoli-Sertoli and Sertoli-germ cell interactions once Sertoli cells provide critical factors necessary for a successful differentiation of germ cells to sperm. In teleost fish the cytoplasmic extensions of Sertoli cells support the cysts that remain closed until spermiogenesis. The number of Sertoli cells determines the testicular size, the number of testicular germ cells and the production capacity of spermatozoa. Our objective was to describe the morphology and the cytoarchitectonical dynamic of Sertoli cells in Melanorivulus punctatus, which were collected in the municipality of Chapada dos Guimarães, Mato Grosso, Brazil. The gonads were extracted and prepared according to histological routine for light microscopy and transmission electron microscopy. Sertoli cells have cytoplasmic extensions which provide the conformation of cysts in the interior of the lobes. These cells possess a polymorphic nucleus with a well-defined nuclear envelope and a prominent and eccentric nucleoli. Each cyst is sustained for more than one Sertoli cell and the cysts seem to share the Sertoli cells with each other regardless the stage of development of germ cells within these cysts. This disposal promotes a reticulated arrangement of Sertoli cells. The Sertoli cells lining the ducts assume rectangular shape with rounded nucleus. Thus, the morphological characteristics of Sertoli cells observed did not differ from what has been described for other teleosts. Despite the similarity in the morphology of these cells, we observed that its disposal in the extension of the gonad seems to differ from what is described for fish. The arrangement by which the cytoplasmic extensions of Sertoli cells connect the ends of lobes prevents the proliferation of spermatogonia on the lobe side walls and are only observed in the end of the lobes, which ensures the testicular characteristic-lobular restricted in Atherinomorpha.
authors.affiliation: Instituto de Biociências, Universidade Federal de Mato Grosso, Av. Fernando Corrêa da Costa, n° 2367, Bairro Boa Esperança, Cuiabá 78060-900, MT, Brazil. monicassel@hotmail.com
authors.forename: Mônica
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Cassel
authors.forename: Débora Fabiane
authors.initials: DF
authors.lastname: Neves da Silva
authors.forename: Adelina
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Ferreira
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001938:Brazil; D003532:Cyprinodontiformes; D008297:Male; D046529:Microscopy, Electron, Transmission; D012708:Sertoli Cells / Q000648:ultrastructure*; D013737:Testis / Q000648:ultrastructure*