Thiamine pyrophosphatase activity in secretory cells of the lateral prostate and seminal vesicle of normal and castrated guinea pigs and castrates treated with oestradiol.

Ultrastructural localization of thiamine pyrophosphatase (TPPase) activity was studied in secretory cells of the lateral prostate and seminal vesicle of normal and castrated guinea pigs and castrates treated with 17 beta-oestradiol benzoate. The present study has demonstrated that TPPase reaction product is consistently localized in the three to four trans cisternae of Golgi complexes in both the lateral prostate and the seminal vesicle. The reaction was intense and the reaction product often filled the cisternae completely. After castration there was a decrease in TPPase activity in both glands as revealed by the reduction in the amount of the reaction product which was found mainly in one to two trans cisternae of the regressed Golgi complex. The reaction product changed from a dense to a more particulate or granular pattern or to discrete deposits of high electron-density. Administration of 17 beta-oestradiol benzoate to the castrates caused changes in the localization and patterns of distribution of TPPase. In the lateral prostate there was an apparent increase in TPPase activity. The reaction product was found in two to four trans cisternae and occasionally in the trans-most cisternae of the dilated Golgi complex. The reaction product appeared as discrete, dense coarse precipitates. In the seminal vesicle TPPase reaction product was consistently found in one to two trans cisternae in cells with larger Golgi complexes. However, almost all cisternae of the smaller Golgi complexes were TPPase-positive.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)