The fine structure of the epithelium of prostate glands in adult female mastomys erythroleucus Temm.

The prostate glands in adult female Mastomys were studied with the light and the electron microscope. In the light microscopy, each prostatic acinus is lined by a single layer of tall cuboidal secretory epithelial cells which are surrounded by a capsule composed of a few layers of elongated and flattened cells. The acinar secretory epithelial cells show no presence of the supranuclear light areas in their cytoplasm and tend to be more readily stained with toluidine blue in the perinuclear and the upper basal cytoplasm than in the rest cytoplasm. In the electron microscopy, sharply localized pittings are occasionally found on the luminal surface and further the secretory granules which are closely situated to the apical cell surface are recognized. In the supranuclear cytoplasm, several well-developed Golgi apparatuses appear individually and early developing secretory granules are also observed. In the perinuclear and the upper basal cytoplasm the rough endoplasmic reticulum is well developed while in the lower basal cytoplasm the smooth endoplasmic reticulum is conspicuously developed and predominates.