Demonstration of the existence of a single morphological type of gonadotrophic cell in Ellobius lutescens (Microtinae) by an ultrastructural analysis of their development under various physiological and experimental conditions

Summary Ultrastructural studies of pituitaries from Ellobius lutescens (immature males and females, adult hypogonadic males, and virgin and pregnant females) show that the gonadotrophic cells are characterized by a lamellar or vacuolar rough endoplasmic reticulum (RER), a spirally-arranged Golgi apparatus, elongated mitochondria and secretory granules of variable density and size (150–500 m). Ultrastructural differences between gonadotrophic cells previously determined by light microscopy correspond to changes in the development of the protein synthetic apparatus and in the intensity of hormonal discharge. Type 2 gonadotrophs always appear to be more active than type 1 gonadotrophs. After castration, all gonadotrophic cells develop into the same form of castration cell, although type 1 gonadotrophs change more slowly than type 2 cells. Treatment with testosterone induces an inverse development of the gonadotrophic cells which take on the appearance of resting cells similar to those found in immature animals, where the two cell types are also identical. Thus, only one morphological type of gonadotrophic cell can be identified in Ellobius lutescens. Moreover, the gonadotrophic cells of the hypogonadic adult male have the same appearance as those of the female two months after castration, which proves that the negative feedback mechanism which regulates gonadotrophic function is defective in adult male Ellobius lutescens.