Electron microscopic observations on the postnatal differentiation of the seminal vesicle epithelium of the laboratory mouse

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Abstract
The cytological changes occurring in the epithelium of the mouse seminal vesicle between 5 and 49 days of postnatal life have been traced by electron microscopy.Initially the epithelium was composed of typical immature columnar cells. During the second week of life, the principal changes were: rapid cell proliferation, followed by increases in the amounts of organized ergastoplasm and Golgi material. During the third week, dense secretory material appeared in Golgi cisternae and then in the lumen of the gland.The parallelism between these changes and those found in maturing pancreatic acinar tissue has been assessed. Comment is made on the attachment of ribosomes to endoplasmic reticulum in the initiation of protein‐secretory activity, and the importance of the subsequent proliferation of ergastoplasmic and Golgi membranes. The evidence for relating these cytological and secretory alterations in the seminal vesicle to a rising titer of androgen during the prepuberal period has been cited.Other observations included: (a) Evidence for a considerable amount of cellular sloughing and resorption during the first two postnatal weeks; (b) an association of mitochondria with developing desmosomes, and (c) the appearance of basal cells first during the second week of postnatal life, thus suggesting that they arise by dedifferentiation of columnar cells.