Sertoli cell nuclear pore number changes in some stages of the spermatogenic cycle of the rat seminiferous epithelium

Abstract

In an earlier study we described changes in the number and distribution of nuclear pores during maturation of germ cells at given stages of the spermatogenic cycle; these changes were related to the activity of nucleus-cytoplasm transport. Similarly, the present work was performed by combining freeze-fracture techniques with Sertoli nuclei identification criteria, using fragments of tubules isolated by transillumination under stereo-microscopy. We studied the density of nuclear pores in freeze-fracture replicas of the Sertoli nuclear envelope at stages XIII-XIV-I compared with stages IX-XII. Pore counts were carried out on photographs of the platinum replicas using a digitalized morphometric board. The results were statistically analyzed using Student's t test. The difference in density (pore number/μm2 ± SEM) was significant between stages IX-XII (8.25 ± 0.63) and XIII-XIV-I (10.80 ± 0.60). We postulate that this density appears to be increased at the time of increased metabolic requirements of the Sertoli cell.