A comparative study of cytoplasmic basophilia and the population density of ribosomes in the secretory cells of mouse seminal vesicle

Summary A comparative cytochemical and electron microscopic study on the ergastoplasm in the secretory cells of the seminal vesicles of castrated, normal, and testosterone-treated mice is reported. Castration induced a progressive decline in cytoplasmic basophilia (identified with ribonucleic acid) and testosterone treatment caused an enhancement over the normal level. There were corresponding changes in total area of ergastoplasmic membranes, but the expected changes in population density of ribosomes (ribonucleoprotein particles) in the intercisternal cytoplasm did not occur. These observations conflict with the currently-accepted view that almost all of the ribonucleic acid responsible for cytoplasmic basophilia in adult mammalian cells is contained in the ribosomes.Other changes in the fine structure of these cells in the experimental animals are briefly described.This research was aided by grants from the American Cancer Society and the United States Public Health Service (B-2145). Preliminary reports were made at the Tenth Annual Meeting of the Histochemical Society (Deane and Porter 1959) and the Tenth International Congress for Cell Biology (Deane and Porter 1960).