Cavicchia J C, Sacerdote F L
Instituto de Histologia y Embriologia, Facultad de Ciencias Médicas, U.N. Cuyo, Mendoza, Argentina.
Tissue Cell. 1988;20(4):577-86. doi: 10.1016/0040-8166(88)90059-6.
Intratubular injection of electron-opaque tracers (lanthanum hydroxide, peroxidase) by micromanipulation showed that the intercellular spaces of the adluminal compartment are in continuity with the lumen of the rat seminiferous tubule at all stages of the spermatogenic cycle. This continuity involves the intercellular spaces which surround zygotene spermatocytes and late leptotene spermatocytes in stages X-XI. The present observations would seem to cast doubt on the real existence of a third compartment, or intermediate compartment, in the seminiferous epithelium. In the material which, in addition to intratubular administration, had been treated with intravascular tracer perfusion, we found the presence of a parabasal region of interSertoli junctions where the tracer stopped whatever its direction. Freeze-fracture replicas exhibit interSertoli tight junctions arranged, from basal lamina to lumen, in three well-defined patterns: in the most basal area, which is the zone of free penetration of tracers from the peritubular environment, junctions are very sparse or absent; a belt of closely apposed continuous and parallel junctions, also parallel to the basal lamina, is the exclusion zone which prevents tracer penetration from either direction; the most apical membrane areas display irregularly arranged, loosely spaced and frequently interrupted rows of particles, most tending to be perpendicular to the basal lamina. This area corresponds to the territory where the intraluminally injected tracer permeates the interSertoli space.
通过显微操作向管腔内注射电子不透明示踪剂（氢氧化镧、过氧化物酶）显示，在生精周期的所有阶段，近腔室的细胞间隙与大鼠生精小管的管腔是连续的。这种连续性涉及在X-XI阶段围绕偶线期精母细胞和晚期细线期精母细胞的细胞间隙。目前的观察结果似乎对生精上皮中第三个区室或中间区室的实际存在提出了质疑。在除了管腔内给药外还进行了血管内示踪剂灌注处理的材料中，我们发现存在支持细胞间连接的近基底部区域，示踪剂无论朝哪个方向都会在此处停止。冷冻蚀刻复制品显示支持细胞间紧密连接从基膜到管腔按三种明确的模式排列：在最基部区域，即示踪剂从肾小管周围环境自由渗透的区域，连接非常稀疏或不存在；一条紧密并列的连续且平行的连接带，也与基膜平行，是阻止示踪剂从任何一个方向渗透的排除区；最顶端的膜区域显示不规则排列、间隔松散且经常中断的颗粒行，大多数颗粒倾向于垂直于基膜。这个区域对应于管腔内注射的示踪剂渗透支持细胞间空间的区域。
