RETINYL PALMITATE, A MAJOR RETINYL ESTER IN RAT TESTIS SEMINIFEROUS TUBULES .2. SERTOLI CELL, SITE OF RETINOL ESTERIFICATION

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  • 1 January 1976
    • journal article
    • research article
    • Vol. 46  (3) , 330-337
Abstract
Testes from normal adult male rats were removed, the ST [seminiferous tubules] were isolated mechanically and retinol was extracted and separated into free and retinyl esters in a prestandardized alumina column. The fraction containing retinyl esters was hydrolyzed, and the fatty acid composition was determined gas chromatographically. Retinyl palmitate was the major retinyl ester in the testis ST constituting almost 55% of the total esters. In a 2nd study, adult male rats were given Busulfan (1,4, dimethylsulfonoxybutane) i.p. twice 6 wk apart. At the end of 6 wk following injection, the testes from a few animals were examined histologically, and the results showed that Busulfan treatment destroyed the germinal epithelium completely but had no effect on the structural integrity of the SE [Sertoli] cells. Labeled retinol (free) mixed in rat albumin solution was injected intratesticularly (in vivo study) or incubated (in vitro study) with ST which was isolated form the testes of rats treated with Busulfan. Labeled retinol (free) was apparently converted to retinyl esters in the ST. Since the ratio of conversion of free retinol (labeled) to retinyl esters remained constant in the treated ST (which contained only SE cells, the germinal epithelium having been destroyed) and in the control ST (which contained both SE cells and germinal epithelium), the SE cells are probably the site of retinol esterification in the testis ST.