Tissue connections in a transplantable virus-producing sebaceous adenoma of the mouse.

In this study a transplantable sebaceous adenoma is presented, which maintained its histological structure with similarities to normal sebaceous glands over a long series of transplantations. From the periphery toward the center a basal lamina, an outer layer of undifferenciated stem cells, loosely connected secreting tissue, a tightly packed zone of close cell attachment, and finally a central sebaceous zone can be distinguished. Special reference is made to the belt-like region around the zone of cell lysis and sebum accumulation, which forms a barrier to the surrounding tissue by means of numerous cell adhesions in the form of desmosomes. Relatively few virus particles of the retrovirus group, particularly type A particles, were found in any of the examined tumors.