Ultrastructural Characteristics of the Vaginal Epithelium of Neonatally Estrogenized Mice in Response to Subsequent Estrogen Treatment

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Abstract
Adult mice which had received 10 daily injections of 20 .mu.g estradiol beginning with the day of birth were in a persistent-estrous state, showing ovary-independent proliferation and cornification of the vaginal epithelium. Ultrastructural changes of the vaginal epithelium in neonatally estrogenized mice was examined after a single postpuberal injection of 10 .mu.g estradiol and compared with those seen in normal mice to estrogen. In ovariectomized normal mice the basal cells were round. The nucleus was polygonal and contained peripheral condensed chromatin. After estradiol treatment, the basal cells became columnar. The nucleus was round to oval, containing dispersed chromatin. In neonatally estrogenized ovariectomized mice, the basal layer of vaginal epithelium consisted of round cells with polygonal nuclei, much as in normal ovariectomized mice. The nucleus occupied a large area of the cytoplasm and contained prominent nucleoli. Intercellular spaces were moderatley distended. Late estradiol treatment resulted in distended intercellular spaces and in the appearance of the other cell type along with round cells in the basal layers: columnar cells containing an oval nucleus with dispersed chromatin, resembled the basal cells in normal ovariectomized mice receiving postpuberal estrogen injection. The intercellular spaces between the columnar cells were narrow compared with those between round cells. However, the nuclei of round cells still had prominent nucleoli and peripheral condensed chromatin regardless of subsequent estrogen treatment. These nuclei probably do not respond to estrogen. The vaginal epithelium of neonatally estrogenized mice with ovary-independent persistent cornification consists of a mixed population of cells.

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