Holstein A F, Maekawa M, Nagano T, Davidoff M S
Institute of Anatomy, University of Hamburg, Germany.
Arch Histol Cytol. 1996 May;59(2):109-25. doi: 10.1679/aohc.59.109.
Myofibroblasts of the lamina propria of human seminiferous tubules were studied in testes having normal or slightly reduced spermatogenesis by means of electron microscopy, confocal laser microscopy and immunocytochemistry. Myofibroblasts are large, flat individual cells braced in a network of microfibrils and collagen fibrils in the tubular wall. They are arranged in discontinuous cell layers with interposed layers of an extracellular matrix. Myofibroblasts of the lamina propria exhibit an unique cell shape with the peripheral cytoplasm split up in two or more layers. After FITC-phalloidin staining and by means of confocal laser microscopy, actin filaments of variable orientation are visible in their cytoplasm. The thickness and preferential direction of actin filaments differ in the outer and innermost cell layers. The myofibroblasts express both antigens of smooth muscle cells (alpha-smooth muscle actin, pan-actin, desmin, GB 42, smooth muscle myosin), and of connective tissue cells (vimentin, fibroblast surface protein). The variable expression of these antigens evidenced the existence of different phenotypes of myofibroblasts. Immunoreactivity for basic fibroblast growth factor and transforming growth factor beta as well as for components of the extracellular matrix indicate that these agents may be important for the phenotypic differentiation of the lamina propria cells. The detection of CNPase-and galactocerebroside-immunoreactivity in a number of lamina propria cells and some cells of the intertubular tissue gives rise to the hypothesis that components of the testicular tissue share some structural similarities with glia cells of the nervous system. Finally, immunoreactivities for the neuronal and endothelial nitric oxide synthase, soluble guanylyl cyclase, cyclic GMP, calmodulin, calcium-dependent protein kinase II and glutamate indicate that the contractility of myofibroblasts in the lamina propria of human seminiferous tubules may be in part modulated by the NO/cGMP-system.
利用电子显微镜、共聚焦激光显微镜和免疫细胞化学技术，对精子发生正常或略有减少的睾丸中人类生精小管固有层的肌成纤维细胞进行了研究。肌成纤维细胞是大的扁平单个细胞，支撑在管壁中的微原纤维和胶原纤维网络中。它们排列成不连续的细胞层，中间夹有细胞外基质层。固有层的肌成纤维细胞呈现独特的细胞形态，其周边细胞质分成两层或更多层。经异硫氰酸荧光素 - 鬼笔环肽染色并借助共聚焦激光显微镜观察，可见其细胞质中肌动蛋白丝方向各异。外层和最内层细胞层中肌动蛋白丝的厚度和优先方向有所不同。肌成纤维细胞既表达平滑肌细胞抗原（α - 平滑肌肌动蛋白、泛肌动蛋白、结蛋白、GB 42、平滑肌肌球蛋白），也表达结缔组织细胞抗原（波形蛋白、成纤维细胞表面蛋白）。这些抗原的可变表达证明了肌成纤维细胞存在不同的表型。碱性成纤维细胞生长因子、转化生长因子β以及细胞外基质成分的免疫反应性表明，这些因子可能对固有层细胞的表型分化很重要。在许多固有层细胞和一些小管间组织细胞中检测到CNPase和半乳糖脑苷脂免疫反应性，这引发了一种假说，即睾丸组织的成分与神经系统的神经胶质细胞存在一些结构相似性。最后，神经元型和内皮型一氧化氮合酶、可溶性鸟苷酸环化酶、环磷酸鸟苷、钙调蛋白、钙依赖性蛋白激酶II和谷氨酸的免疫反应性表明，人类生精小管固有层中肌成纤维细胞的收缩性可能部分受NO/cGMP系统调节。
