Summary
Testes of newborn mice not older than one day were transplanted into the anterior chamber of one eye of an adult male white Holtzman rat.
The events observed in the Leydig cells of the grafted testes can be divided into two periods. Period one is marked by differentiation; period two, by dedifferentiation. In period one, the lipid and glycogen inclusions disappear, possibly owing to the gonadotropins of the host. In period two, which starts after day 15 post-grafting, the lipids and glycogen reappear; the Leydig cells now contain residual bodies, whereas the S.E.R. disappears. Immunological mechanisms can be implicated; it is suggested that the Leydig cells dedifferentiate because the host's gonadotropins may be incapable of evoking and/or activating the genetic memory of the grafted Leydig cells.
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Russo, J., de Rosas, J.C. Differentiation of mouse leydig cell in anterior chamber of the rat eye. Anat Embryol 146, 219–224 (1974). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00315597
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00315597