ACCESSORY MAMMALIAN REPRODUCTIVE GLANDS 



411 



(Dempsey, Grecp and Deane, 1949; Me- 

 lampy and Cavazos, 1953). 



Mouse prostate and seminal vesicles. 

 Ventral prostate. The epithelial cells in the 

 adult gland are low to moderately tall 

 columnar; acini are surrounded by a thin 

 fibromuscular layer; lumina contain finely 

 granular, acidophilic secretion. The cyto- 

 plasm appears somewhat foamy with a 

 clear zone in the supranuclear Golgi region 

 and rather dense basophilia near the lumen 

 (Franks, 1959). In approj)riate histologic 

 preparations, the Golgi apparatus is visible 

 as a network in the apical cytoplasm close 

 to the nucleus and the twisted strands are 

 oriented parallel to the long axis of the cell 

 (Horning, 1947). 



Brandes and Portela (1960c) observed by 

 electron microscopy an endoplasmic reticu- 

 lum of cisternae or vesicles that are usually 

 flattened but have dilations. RNA-rich 

 granules are attached to the outer surface 

 of the thin membranes bounding the vesicles 

 and occur also in the cytoplasmic matrix; 

 the arrangement of cisternae may be paral- 

 lel or in a random pattern. The luminal 

 margin of cells exhibits small cytoplasmic 

 projections covered by the cell membrane. 

 There are also extensions of the margin 

 which ai)pear similar to fragments of cyto- 

 plasm that seem to lie free in the lumen, 

 and are presumably detached from the api- 

 cal tips of cells. The lumina also contain 

 structures that resemble profiles of the en- 

 doplasmic reticulum and mitochondria. The 

 supranuclear Golgi complex consists of 

 vacuoles of various sizes and flattened vesi- 

 cles; endoplasmic reticulum and mitochon- 

 dria are present in the Golgi zone. 



Histochemical findings (Table 6.8) indi- 

 cate alkaline phosphatase activity in the 

 stroma with a positive reaction in the base- 

 ment membrane, endothelium of blood ves- 

 sels, and sheaths of smooth muscle fibers 

 (Brandes and Bourne, 1954). With longer 

 incubation periods of the tissue (Bern, 

 1949a), the epithelium and secretion in the 

 lumina are strongly reactive and the stroma 

 shows some activity. Brandes and Bourne 

 (1954) reported acid phosphatase activity 

 in the epithelium; the Golgi region gave 

 the strongest reaction and the nuclei were 

 moderately positive. Luminal secretion, ag- 



gregations of granules in the Golgi region 

 and apical cytoplasm, basement mem- 

 branes, and capillary endothelium were 

 PA8-positive. Sulfhydryl and disulfide re- 

 actions were moderately strong in epithelial 

 cells and basement membranes. 



Gonadectomy results in typical cell retro- 

 gression with reduction in cell height and 

 nuclear size. Brandes and Bourne (1954) 

 summarized their results as follows: after 

 gonad removal, the Golgi apparatus showed 

 some fragmentation and was not so dense 

 by 12 to 14 days; alkaline phosphatase ac- 

 tivity was slightly less intense by 4 days; 

 changes in acid pliosphatase activity in the 

 Golgi region were evident by 4 days and 

 marked by 21 to 22 days; the PAS reaction 

 was reduced by 8 days and almost lost in 

 the epithelium by 21 to 22 days. Subcu- 

 taneous implantation of pellets of testos- 

 terone propionate 13 to 32 days after cas- 

 tration produced a rapid return to normal 

 of Golgi apparatus and phosphatase ac- 

 tivity and a gradual recovery of normal 

 PAS reactions. Allen (1958) reported a sig- 

 nificant increase in mitotic activity in the 

 epithelium of 30-day castrates within 30 

 to 36 hours following a single injection of 

 16 /xg. of testosterone propionate; peak ac- 

 tivity was reached in 42 to 48 hours. 



Dorsal prostate. The epithelial cells re- 

 semble rather closely those of the coagulat- 

 ing gland but the cytoplasm is more granu- 

 lar, the centrally placed nuclei darker, and 

 the Golgi apparatus in the apical cyto- 

 plasm (in close contact with the nucleus) is 

 less dense than the Golgi networks in the 

 coagulating gland (Horning, 1947). Histo- 

 chemically, the distribution of phosphatase 

 activities and PAS reaction in normal 

 males, castrates, and castrates treated with 

 testosterone propionate are similar to the 

 findings in the coagulating gland (Bern, 

 1949a, 1951; Brandes and Bourne, 1954). 



Coagulating gland {anterior prostate). 

 The secretory cells are columnar and the 

 nuclei are approximately midway between 

 basement membrane and lumen. The cyto- 

 plasm is granular and the condensed Golgi 

 apparatus is a flattened network oriented 

 transversely in the most apical region of 

 the cytoplasm (Horning, 1947). 



Electron microscopic studies by Brandes 



