416 



PHYSIOLOGY OF GONADS 





V\v, 6 40 Mouse seminal vesicle, 7-(lay castrate. Electronmicrograph X 4200; osmic acid 

 fixation wjtli sucrose. Note the reduction in cell height, number of secretory granules, and 

 contortion of the ergastoplasmic membranes. Arrow indicates microvilli. (From H. W. Deane 

 and K. R. Porter, unpublished.) 



routine fixation and stains, the most ob- 

 vious differences are in cell height, position 

 and staining intensity of the nuclei, pres- 

 ence or absence of secretory granules, and 

 in such cytoplasmic characteristics as the 

 supranuclear clear zone in the rat ventral 

 prostate and the basal vesicular region in 

 the coagulating gland. The Golgi apparatus 

 varies in density, structure, and position 

 in the apical cytoplasm. Studies on ultra- 

 structure reveal striking differences in the 

 degree of dilation and the disposition of the 

 endoplasmic reticulum. In the rat ventral 

 prostate the most dilated cisternae are in 

 the supranuclear region; in the dorsal lobe, 

 generally distended vesicles are disposed 

 throughout the cytoplasm in both cell 

 types; in the coagulating gland, there is 

 extreme dilation of the sacs, particularly in 

 the basal region. The flattened vesicles of 

 the mouse ventral prostate are disposed at 

 random; the coagulating gland, like that of 

 the rat, shows greatly dilated cisternae, 

 especially basally. Moderately distended 

 ergastoplasmic channels in the basal and 

 lateral regions of cells are characteristic of 

 the mouse seminal vesicles. 



Changes following castration are detect- 



able by light microscopy within 2 days in 

 the rat seminal vesicle; 4 days in the ven- 

 tral prostate; 10 days in the coagulating 

 gland. 



Harkin (1957a) suggested a correlation 

 between distention of the sacs and secretory 

 activity of the cells in the rat ventral pros- 

 tate. Within 24 hours after gonadectomy, 

 he observed dilation of the sacs, but within 

 2 days, collapse of the apical sacs was 

 marked and by 4 days, there was general 

 collapse of the vesicles in other regions of 

 the endoplasmic reticulum. At this stage 

 secretory activity of the cells was appar- 

 ently reduced. 



Brandes and Portela (1960a, b, c) dis- 

 cussed the relation of the cisternae to secre- 

 tion in the mouse glands. They proposed 

 that the extremely dilated cisternae of the 

 coagulating glands contain secretory prod- 

 ucts which are released into the lumina of 

 acini by some undetermined mechanism. 

 They found no evidence that the Golgi com- 

 plex is involved in the elaboration of secre- 

 tory material in the cisternae, but histo- 

 chemical findings suggest that it might take 

 part in formation of secretory products that 

 are not intracisternal. The ventral prostate 



