Fluorescence histochemical demonstration of a relationship between adrenergic nerves and cells containing actin and myosin in the rat ovary, with special reference to the follicle wall.

Contractile proteins (actin and myosin detected by immunohistochemistry) were present in elongated cells forming concentric layers in the theca externa of Graafian follicles and around corpora lutea. Immunofluorescent cells were also found in the ovarian stroma. Study of adrenergic nerve fibres by the glyoxylic acid technique showed numerous branches in between and in close association with the contractile cells.