Fine structure of somatotrophs and mammotrophs in the pituitary pars distalis of the little (lit) mutant mouse

Publisher Website
Google Scholar
Abstract
The cellular pathology and postnatal differentiation of somatotrophs and mammotrophs in the pars distalis oflittle (lit/lit) and normal (+ /+;lit/+) mice were studied by means of electron microscopy. The results indicate that inlittle the pituitary at birth contains recognizable somatotrophs and mammotrophs; however, between 14 and 24 days of age a contrast betweenlittle and normal becomes conspicuous with respect to the somatotrophs.Little somatotrophs are less heavily populated with granules, have granules of smaller size, and show less developed organelles than do normal somatotrophs at comparable stages. Beyond 24 days thelittle somatotrophs become more difficult to locate, and those that do occur show a minimal increase in complexity from that present at 14 days. In contrast, the mammotrophs inlittle are similar in appearance to normal mammotrophs and show increasing complexity as development proceeds, often sending forth cellular processes between neighboring cells, as do normal mammotrophs.