[Folliculo-stellate cells of the anterior hypophyses of the hedgehog (Erinaceus europaeus L.)].

The anterior lobe of the hedgehog pituitary possess folliculo-stellate cells. These agranular (or few granular) cells, connected together by juctional complexes in relation with mitochondria, limit small cavities; at the luminar surfaces, microvillosities projecting in the lumen are seen. The lumina of cavities contain, or not, an electron dense substance, but not remnants of glandular cells. Long slender cytoplasmic processes, extended between adjacent granular cells, takes contact with the basement parenchymatous membrane, where they form a so-called "vascular foot". The cytoplasm of these cells contains a variety of organelles; their development is variable and appears in relation with the functional activity of the cell.