Uterine Luminal Epithelium: Protrusions Mediate Endocytosis, not Apocrine Secretion, in the Rat1

Publisher Website
Google Scholar
Abstract
The uteri of 44 female rats on Day 5 of pregnancy were subjected to histological study using 18 different fixation procedures. Irregular protrusions from the apical surface of luminal epithelial cells were observed with every fixation procedure, indicating that such surface specializations are not a fixation artifact. A study of the reabsorption of ferritin from the uterine lumen of four rats on Day 5 of pregnancy showed that the apical protrusions were involved in the formation of 0.5-3 µm endocytosis vacuoles. Tracer was taken into these vacuoles within 10-20 min, and by 60 min it was found mostly in multivesicular and dense bodies. The apical protrusions carried out endocytosis only on Days 4 and 5 of pregnancy; on Days 1, 2, and 6 this activity was minimal or absent. In addition to the 0.5-3 µm vacuoles, endocytosis on Day 5 of pregnancy was also carried out by 100 nm coated vesicles.

This publication has 0 references indexed in Scilit: