Phasic secretion by follicular cells of the bat adenohypophysis during the prearousal period of their annual life cycle.

The fine structure of the follicular (nongranulated) cells of the adenohypophysis of the bat was examined at different periods of the annual life cycle. Follicular cells were found in all regions of the pars distalis of both active and hibernating bats. Throughout the active phase of the life cycle and during most of the hibernating period, the structure of follicular cells is unchanged. Toward the end of hibernation, however, striking ultrastructural changes occur. The most obvious of these alterations is the appearance in follicles of dense rod-shaped bodies within the follicular luminal space. Just prior to arousal, the rodlike bodies become much wider and appear more as paracrystalline aggregates of dense material. Images indicate that the dense rod-shaped bodies are packaged in vesicles in the cytoplasm of the follicular cells. The fusion of the membrane of filled vesicles with the plasma membrane of the follicular cell results in the release of their dense rod-shaped bodies into the follicular lumen by exocytosis. These cyclic ultrastructural changes indicate that follicular cells have a phasic secretory activity.