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Control of the pars intermedia of the lizard, Anolis carolinensis

II. Ultrastructure of the intact intermediate lobe

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Summary

The ultrastructure of the intermediate lobe of the hypophysis was studied in Anolis carolinensis with the use of a threefold aldehyde fixative. Lizards with a brown skin were selected. The possibility of two types of secretory cells is discussed; neither cell type is innervated. Type I cells are rarely found and contain dense granules approximately 0.3 μm in diameter; Type II cells vary widely in secretory activity. Most of the Type II cells contain a large number of dense secretory granules (up to about 1.3 μm in diameter) almost filling the cytoplasm. Rough endoplasmic reticulum (RER), Golgi apparatus and mitochondria are poorly developed. Only some of these cells show signs suggesting a high secretory activity, namely a well developed RER, Golgi apparatus and numerous mitochondria. In these cells the RER sometimes forms large intracisternal droplets (up to 7 μm in diameter). Two of the animals exhibited a more uniform, high secretory activity. Large (about 2 μm in diameter), pale vacuoles, probably of extracellular character, were found mostly in the vicinity of the perivascular septum. Their role in the release of MSH is discussed. The present data, which are discussed with reference to earlier findings (Forbes, 1972), form the morphological basis for an experimental study on regulation of MSH release (Larsson et al., 1979).

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Author notes

  1. Esteban M. Rodríguez

    Present address: Instituto de Histologia y Patologia, Universidad Austral, Valdivia, Chile

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Zoology, University of Lund, Helgonavägen 3, S-223 62, Lund, Sweden

    Leonard Larsson, Esteban M. Rodríguez & Patrick Meurling

Authors
  1. Leonard Larsson
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  2. Esteban M. Rodríguez
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  3. Patrick Meurling
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Additional information

Supported by grants from the Swedish Natural Science Research Council (to P. Meurling) and the Royal Physiographic Society of Lund

The authors are indebted to Mrs. Ingrid Hallberg, Mrs. Kirsten Thörneby and Mrs. Lena Sandell for valuable technical assistance and to Miss Inger Norling for photographic aid

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Larsson, L., Rodríguez, E.M. & Meurling, P. Control of the pars intermedia of the lizard, Anolis carolinensis . Cell Tissue Res. 198, 411–426 (1979). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00234186

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