Summary
The morphological development of pinealocytes maintained in monolayer culture, without the neural and humoral effects present in the developing rat has been studied and compared with the development that occurs in vivo. Pinealocytes in 5 day cultures contained organelles that were similar to those present in the pineals of intact 5 day old rats. However, light and dark cells were not noted in culture, and the cultured cells did not have the dense granules noted in vivo. As pinealocytes developed in culture, cytoplasmic processes increased in length and number. By 21 days of culture age, synaptic ribbons were found to have decreased in number, the difference between light cell and dark cell cytoplasm had become more prominent, and dense-cored vesicles had become more numerous, just as in the developing gland in vivo. These results suggest that the complex neural and humoral factors impinging upon the developing neonatal pineal in the intact animal may not be necessary for some aspects of its ultrastructural differentiation.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Axelrod J, Shein HM, Wurtman RJ (1969) Stimulation of C14 melatonin synthesis from C14 tryptophan by noradrenaline in rat pineal in organ culture. Proc Natl Acad Sci USA 62:544–549
Cardinali DP, Vacas MI (1978) Feedback control of pineal function by reproductive hormones — a neuroendocrine paradigm. J Neural Transmission Suppl 13:175–201
Clabough JW (1973) Cytological aspects of pineal development in rats and hamsters. Am J Anat 137:215–230
Diehl BJM (1978) Occurrence and regional distribution of striated muscle fibers in the rat pineal gland. Cell Tissue Res 190:349–355
Dill RE (1963) The distribution of striated muscle in the epiphysis cerebri of the rat. Acta Anat 54:310–316
Ellison N, Weller JL, Klein DC (1972) Development of a circadian rhythm in the activity of pineal serotonin N-acetyl transferase. J Neurochem 19:1335–1341
Godfrey W, Nelson P, Schrier B, Breuer A, Ranson B (1975) Neurons from fetal rat brain in a new culture system: A multidisciplinary analysis. Brain Res 90:1–21
Hewing M (1979) Synaptic ribbons during postnatal development of the pineal gland in the golden hamster (Mesocricetus auratus). Cell Tissue Res 199:473–482
Kappers JA (1960) The development, topographical relations, and innervation of the epiphysis cerebri in the albino rat. Z Zellforsch 52:163–215
Karasek M (1974) Ultrastructure of rat pineal gland in organ culture, influence of norepinephrine, dibutyryl cyclic adenosine 3′5′-monophosphate and adenohypophysis. Endokrinologie 64:106–114
Karasek M, Marek K (1978) Influence of gonadotropic hormones on the ultrastructure of rat pinealocytes. Cell Tissue Res 188:133–141
Karasek M, Pawlikowski M, Kappers JA, Stepien H (1976) Influence of castration followed by administration of LH-RH on the ultrastructure of rat pinealocytes. Cell Tissue Res 167:325–339
Karasek M, Marek K, Kunert-Radek J (1978) Ultrastructure of rat pinealocytes in vitro: influence of gonadotropic hormones and LH-RH. Cell Tissue Res 195:547–556
Klein DC, Lines SV (1969) Pineal hydroxyindole-O-methyl-transferase activity in the growing rat. Endocrinol 84:1523–1525
Klein DC, Moore RY (1979) Pineal N-acetyltransferase: Control by the retinohypothalamic tract and the suprachiasmatic nucleus. Brain Res 174:245–262
McNulty JA, Hazlett JC (1980) The pineal region in the opossum, Didelphis virginiana. Ultrastructure observations. Cell Tissue Res 207:109–121
Moore RY (1978) Neural control of pineal function in mammals and birds. J Neural Transmission Suppl 13:47–58
Pévet P (1979) Secretory processes in the mammalian pinealocyte under natural and experimental conditions. Prog Brain Res 52:149–194
Piekut DT, Knigge KM (1978) Primary cultures of dispersed cells of rat pineal gland. I. Fine structure and indole metabolism. Cell Tissue Res 188:285–297
Preslock JP (1977) Gonadal steroid regulation of pineal melatonin synthesis. Life Sci 20:1299–1304
Quay WB (1959) Striated muscle in the mammalian pineal organ. Anat Rec 133:57–64
Romijn HJ, Gelsema AJ (1976) Electron microscopy of the rabbit pineal organ in vitro. Evidence of norepinephrine — stimulated secretory activity of the Golgi apparatus. Cell Tissue Res 172:365–377
Rowe V, Parr J (1980) Pineal cells enhance choline acetyl-transferase activity in sympathetic neurons. J Neurobiol 11:547–556
Rowe VD, Parr J (1981) Developmental changes in the stimulation of serotonin N-acetyltransferase activity and melatonin synthesis in the rat pineal in monolayer culture. J Pharmacol Exp Ther 218(1):97–102
Rowe V, Neale EA, Avins L, Guroff G, Schrier BK (1977) Pineal gland cells in culture: Morphology, biochemistry, differentiation, and coculture with sympathetic neurons. Exp Cell Res 104:345–356
Rowe V, Steinberg VI, Parr J (1981) Pineal cells in monolayer culture. Adv in Cellular Neurobiology 2 (in press)
Steinberg V, Rowe VD, Watanabe I, Parr J (1981) Effects of norepinephrine and dibutyryl adenosine 3′,5′- cyclic monophosphate on the ultrastructure of pineal cells in monolayer culture. Cell Tissue Res 216:181–191
Tapp E, Blumfield M (1970) The parenchymal cells of the rat pineal gland. Acta Morphol Neurol Scand 8:119–131
Wolfe DE (1965) The epiphyseal cell: an electron microscopic study of its intercellular relationships and intercellular morphology in the pineal body of the albino rat. Prog Brain Res 10:332–386
Yuwiler A, Klein DC, Buda M, Weller JL (1977) Adrenergic control of pineal N-acetyltransferase activity: developmental aspects. Am J Physiol 233:E141-E146
Zimmerman BL, Tso MOM (1975) Morphologic evidence of photoreceptor differentiation of pinealocytes in the neonatal rat. J Cell Biol 66:60–75
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Steinberg, V.I., Rowe, V., Watanabe, I. et al. Morphologic development of neonatal rat pinealocytes in monolayer culture. Cell Tissue Res. 220, 337–347 (1981). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00210513
Accepted:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00210513