Uptake of colloidal particles by cells of the ductuli efferentes of the hamster

Summary Ductuli efferentes epithelium of the hamster consists of a single layer of cells resting upon a typical basement membrane. Two cell types, ciliated and non-ciliated, which are held together by a junctional complex, are distinguished in this epithelium.The ciliated cells present numerous cilia having prominent basal bodies. These lie in the apical cytoplasm surrounded by a feltwork of filaments. Throughout the cell dense particles of the glycogen type are abundant.The non-ciliated cells are interspersed among the others without regular sequence. They are consistently more numerous toward the ductus epididymidis. The luminal surface shows a variable number of microvilli, canaliculi and vesicles. Colloidal mercuric sulfide (SHg) was injected into the rete testis as particulate tracer material, in order to identify the cellular type specializing in absorption and to study the mechanism of transport of these particles. Particles of the tracer were selectively incorporated into non-ciliated cells (apical vesicles, canaliculi and vacuoles). The functional significance of these morphological and experimental findings is discussed.Supported by the Population Council, grant M-63.121 and M-64.109 and by School grant from the Rockefeller Foundation, New York, which are gratefully acknowledged.Fellow of Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas, Argentina.