Allan D J, Gobé G C, Harmon B V
Department of Pathology, University of Queensland Medical School, Herston, Australia.
Scanning Microsc. 1988 Mar;2(1):503-12.
The importance of the morphological study of cell death has recently been emphasized by the recognition that the ultrastructural features of dying cells allow categorization of the death as either apoptosis or necrosis. This classification enables inferences to be drawn about the mechanism and biological significance of the death occurring in a particular set of circumstances. In this study, Sertoli cell death induced in the immature testis of three and four day old rats by 5 Gy (500 rads) x-irradiation was described by light and transmission electron microscopy with the objective of categorizing the death as apoptosis or necrosis. The testes were examined 1, 2, 3, 4, 8, and 24 h after irradiation. Following irradiation, there was a wave of apoptosis of the Sertoli cells starting in three to four hours and reaching a peak between four and eight hours. At 24 hours, only 61% of the expected number of Sertoli cells remained. These findings are in accord with recent ultrastructural reports that ionizing radiation induces cell death by apoptosis in rapidly proliferating cell populations. New insights into the pathogenesis of radiation-induced cell death might thus be expected to stem from future elucidation of the general molecular events involved in triggering apoptosis.
细胞死亡的形态学研究的重要性最近因认识到垂死细胞的超微结构特征可将死亡分类为凋亡或坏死而得到强调。这种分类能够推断出在特定情况下发生的死亡的机制和生物学意义。在本研究中，通过光学显微镜和透射电子显微镜描述了5 Gy（500拉德）X射线照射诱导的3日龄和4日龄大鼠未成熟睾丸中的支持细胞死亡，目的是将死亡分类为凋亡或坏死。在照射后1、2、3、4、8和24小时检查睾丸。照射后，支持细胞出现一波凋亡，始于三到四小时，并在四到八小时达到峰值。在24小时时，仅剩下预期数量的61%的支持细胞。这些发现与最近的超微结构报告一致，即电离辐射通过凋亡在快速增殖的细胞群体中诱导细胞死亡。因此，有望从未来对触发凋亡所涉及的一般分子事件的阐明中获得对辐射诱导细胞死亡发病机制的新见解。
