Fine structure of Sertoli cells in three marine snails with a discussion on the functional morphology of Sertoli cells in general

Summary

The fine structure of Sertoli cells in three marine prosobranch molluscs has been studied with light- and electron microscopy. Sertoli cells of prosobranchs are modified columnar epithelial cells that maintain continuous contact with the basal lamina and extend from it to the lumen of a testicular tubule. Spermatogenesis takes place between adjacent Sertoli cells, but a continuous layer of cytoplasm separates the spermatogonia from the basal lamina, thus restricting the basal compartment to spermatogonium mother cells. Substances traversing the basal lamina from the interstitial space must pass either through or between the Sertoli cells. However, between the cells, a permeability barrier composed of septate and desmosome-like junctions blocks the passage of substances, such as the tracer lanthanum nitrate. The basally-located nucleus is irregularly shaped with fine granular euchromatin and some peripheral heterochromatin; satellite karyosomes border the nucleolus. There is an extensive intracellular digestive system that is used effectively to phagocytize waste sperm and residual cytoplasm. Cytoplasmic processes of Sertoli cells penetrate throughout the germinal epithelium. In some prosobranchs that exhibit sperm polymorphism these processes must coordinate to bring together a clone of eupyrene sperm and a carrier sperm at a particular time in development. The only cytoskeletal elements available within the processes to generate such movements are microtubules.

We propose that the term ‘nurse cell’, which has been used in the past to describe at least three different cell types, including Sertoli cells and apyrene sperm, be restricted to abortive oogonia that contribute to development of an oocyte.