Summary
This paper describes the morphological events which take place in the hamster Leydig cell during its process of prenatal and postnatal differentiation.
The most strinking feature of the prenatal differentiation is the high development of the vesicular form of the smooth endoplasmic reticulum (S.E.R.). At around the end of the first month of postnatal life the vesicular form of the S.E.R. is replaced by a truly reticular S.E.R. formed by numerous interconnected cisternae. From fetal to adult life the amount of ribosomes decreases whereas the number of mitochondria and Golgi cisternae increases. It is concluded that the differentiation mechanism of the hamster Leydig cell differs from that observed in the Leydig cell of other species, even of those closely related to the hamster, such as the mouse.
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Supported by Grant No. M 69.78 from the Population Council (U.S.A.).
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de Rosas, J.C., Russo, J. Pre- and post-natal differentiation of the hamster Leydig cell. Z. Anat. Entwickl. Gesch. 134, 235–242 (1971). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00519301
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00519301