Hermo Louis, Oliveira Regiana, Dufresne Julie, Gregory Mary, Cyr Daniel G
Department of Anatomy and Cell Biology, McGill University, Montreal, QC, Canada.
Laboratory for Reproductive Toxicology, INRS-Centre Armand-Frappier Santé Biotechnologie, Université du Québec, Laval, QC, Canada.
Adv Exp Med Biol. 2025;1469:67-87. doi: 10.1007/978-3-031-82990-1_4.
The epididymis is a highly coiled duct divided into the initial segment, caput, corpus, and cauda regions. It is a pseudostratified epithelium consisting of principal, narrow, apical, basal, and clear cells. Circulating halo cells, identified as nonepithelial cells, monocytes/macrophages (M/M) and T-lymphocytes, in addition to dendritic cells and a resident population of M/M cells, also inhabit the epididymal epithelium. Using electron microscopy (EM), we characterized the ultrastructural features of each of these different cell types. Basal cells with stem cell characteristics suggest a role in sustaining the epithelium following injury and inflammation, as well as maintaining the steady state of the epithelium. Interestingly, a close morphological affiliation was noted between circulating M/M cells with basal cells and an intraepithelial resident M/M population of cells, as well as between T-lymphocytes and dendritic cells. The association of all these cell types with one another suggests complex interactions enabling the coordination of their functions related to maturation, protection, survival of sperm, and renewal of the epithelium.
附睾是一条高度盘绕的管道，分为起始段、头部、体部和尾部区域。它是一种假复层上皮，由主细胞、窄细胞、顶端细胞、基底细胞和透明细胞组成。除了树突状细胞和常驻的巨噬细胞群体外，循环中的晕细胞，被鉴定为非上皮细胞、单核细胞/巨噬细胞（M/M）和T淋巴细胞，也存在于附睾上皮中。我们使用电子显微镜（EM）对这些不同细胞类型的超微结构特征进行了表征。具有干细胞特征的基底细胞表明其在损伤和炎症后维持上皮以及保持上皮稳态方面发挥作用。有趣的是，循环中的M/M细胞与基底细胞以及上皮内常驻的M/M细胞群体之间，以及T淋巴细胞和树突状细胞之间存在密切的形态学联系。所有这些细胞类型之间的关联表明存在复杂的相互作用，能够协调它们与精子成熟、保护、存活以及上皮更新相关的功能。
