HYPOPHYSIS AND GONADOTROPHIC HORMONES 



The characteristic appearance of the 

 Golgi body of the "normal" acidophil cell 

 of the rat hypophysis is not retained 

 through all the phases of activation which 

 may be experienced by this cell. Wolfe and 

 Brown (1942j found that in the hypophysis 

 of the rat treated with estrogen the Golgi 

 body of the acidophil cells enlarged and be- 

 came more or less spheroidal in shape so 

 that acidophil cells could no longer be dis- 

 tinguished from basophil cells on the basis 

 of the Golgi body appearance alone. The 

 change of the acidophil type of Golgi body 

 from the paranuclear net to a rounded body 

 is not confined to conditions of strong acti- 

 vation but is also seen after castration 

 when the acidophil cells are undergoing a 

 reduction in number and a shrinkage in cell 

 and nuclei size. 



In mammals other than the rat distinct 

 differences in the form of the Golgi body in 

 different cell types have not been described, 

 although there are distinct differences in 

 the relative size of the Golgi bodies in 

 different cell types. In the lizard, Anolis 

 carolinensis, (Poris, 1941) the Golgi bodies 

 in the acidophil and basophil cell classes 

 are different, but in this species, unlike 

 the rat, the type of Golgi in the acidophil 

 cells is the more compact one. 



Electron microscopic studies of thin sec- 

 tions reveal that the Golgi zone is a system 

 of smooth membranes enclosing spaces 

 which appear to communicate with the endo- 

 plasmic reticulum. In Palade's (1955) ac- 

 count of the fine structure of nerve cells, 

 the components of the Golgi region were 

 termed "agranular reticulum." There is an 

 association of three distinct structures: (1) 

 A system of double membranes formed by 

 the apposition of flattened vesicular struc- 

 tures. (2) A system of microvesicles with 

 a dense content. (3) Large empty mem- 

 brane-enclosed spaces ("vacuoles") re- 

 sulting from the section of a hollow struc- 

 ture with a watery content. 



The relationship of the three comi)onents 

 to one another and to the classical Golgi 

 apparatus or network is not entirely clear 

 but it is likely that the "vacuoles" aw cross- 

 sections of an anastomosing canalicular sys- 

 tem (Dalton and Felix, 1953; Lacy, 1954) 

 which is responsible for the apiiearance of 



the negative image of the Golgi zone. The 

 demonstration of a network by osmium im- 

 pregnation (Nassonov, 1923) is in the main 

 the result of precipitation of osmium outside 

 the canalicular space particularly at the site 

 of the system of double membranes (Dalton 

 and Felix, 1956; Gatenby and Lufty, 1956). 

 Electron micrographic studies have clari- 

 fied to some degree the relationship between 

 the Golgi zone and secretory activity. The 

 Golgi zone is not a region in which syn- 

 thesis of proteins or peptides occurs. The 

 Golgi complex appears to be concerned 

 rather with the segregation or removal of 

 water from maturing secretory products 

 (Dalton and Felix, 1956) and the enclosure 

 of the mature product in membranes to 

 form secretory granules (Farquhar and 

 Wellings, 1957) . The establishment of other 

 relationships awaits other efforts. Partic- 

 ularly promising are the techniques devel- 

 oped by Peterson (1957) for identifying in 

 stained sections the same fields seen in elec- 

 tron micrographs of the adjacent section. 



C. PALADE GRANULES 



Palade granules are dense bodies 10 to 15 

 m/x in diameter. They occur to some extent 

 either singly or in clusters in the cytoplasm 

 but are for the most part attached to the 

 membrane of the endoplasmic reticulum 

 forming in those regions where tliey occur 

 a "rough-surfaced" membrane (Palade, 

 1955, 1956). Although much too small to be 

 visible as granules under the light micro- 

 scope, their existence, although not their 

 form, can be made evident by specific stain- 

 ing. The granules contain ribonucleic acid 

 and are therefore responsible for cyto- 

 plasmic basophilia. They figure in the lit- 

 erature of light microscopy as a substance, 

 cytoplasmic ribonucleic acid or Nissl sub- 

 stance, and not as a structure. In certain 

 secreting cells in which rough-surfaced 

 membranes occur as closely i)acked, flat- 

 tened sacs they are responsible for the ap- 

 pearance termed "ergastojihism" by Gar- 

 nier (Pahide. 1955) . 



n. SECKKTORV (iRAXT'LES 



Secretory granules arc splici-oidal niem- 

 bi-ane-encloscd Ixxlics with a dense homo- 

 licncDUs coiitciit. The granules in dillVrent 



