Cell organs during secretion in the epididymis

Abstract

Anatomically, the epididymis is the mass of convoluted tubules which connect the testis with the vas deferens. It has been the subject of numerous cytological studies, owing to the fact that the epithelial cells lining its constituent tubules elaborate a secretion, which has been considered to provide nourishment for the spermatozoa during their passage to the vasa. This secretion has been regarded by some observers as of nuclear origin, and by others as a cytoplasmic product. Benoit has described in cells of the epididymis of certain mammals, including man, the extrusion of nucleolar particles from the nucleus into the cytoplasm. Such particles generally enlarge in the cytoplasm, and are finally ejected into the lumen containing the spermatozoa. The budding-off of portions of the nucleus, containing acidophil granules and karyolymph, was also observed. According to Benoit, therefore, the secretion, which, he considers, subserves a nutritive function for the spermatozoa, is derived principally from the nucleus (1).

Reticular Organizations Within the Striated Muscle Cell

“…A further (and perhaps the best-documented) instance of the secretory role of the Golgi apparatus was demonstrated by work on the formation of the acrosome of the sperm (Gatenby, 1917;and see Nath, 1926, for later references); Nassonov (1923) and Ludford (1925) showed the intimate relation between secretion droplets and Golgi material in glandular epithelia of the salamander and in the epididymis of the rabbit, respectively, and a similar situation was observed in a number of glands by Bowen (1926). Nath (1926) summarized the position as it then appeared :…”

Morphological and Cytochemical Identification of the Golgi Apparatus

“…The organs studied included brain, intestine, pancreas, liver, kidney, and epididymis. Special attention was paid to the cerebellum because it was the nervous tissue in which Golgi (1898) first described the network, and to the epididymis because it was the tissue in which Nassonov (1924) and Ludford (1925) found the Golgi apparatus to be most prominent.…”