Ductuli efferentes of the male Golden Syrian hamster reproductive tract

Abstract

Efferent ductules are responsible for the transportation of sperm from the testis to the epididymis and their epithelium is responsible for the reabsorption of over 90% of the luminal fluid. The purpose of this research was to characterize the gross morphology and histology of efferent ductules in the male Golden Syrian hamster. The efferent ductules emerge from rete testis with a unique polarity at the apex or cephalic pole of the testis. The number of efferent ductules varied from 3 to 10 with an average of 6.0 and blind ending ducts were observed in approximately 56 % of the males. The ductules merged into a single common duct prior to entering the caput epididymidis. The proximal efferent ductule lumen was wider than the distal (conus and common ducts), consistent with reabsorption of most of the luminal fluid, as was morphology of the ductal epithelium. Nonciliated cells in the proximal region had prominent endocytic apparatuses, showing both coated pits and apical tubules in the apical cytoplasm. Large basolateral, intercellular spaces were also present in the epithelium of the proximal region. Distal nonciliated cells had an abundance of large endosomes and lysosomal granules. Localization of sodium/hydrogen exchanger-3 (NHE3; SLC9A3) and aquaporins 1 and 9 (AQP1, AQP9) along the microvillus border was also consistent with ion transport and fluid reabsorption by this epithelium. In comparison, the caput epididymidis epithelium expressed only AQP9 immunostaining. Another unusual feature of the hamster efferent ductules was the presence of glycogen aggregates in the basal cytoplasm of small groups of epithelial cells, but only in the proximal ducts near the rete testis. Androgen (AR), estrogen (ESR1 and ESR2) and vitamin D (VDR) receptors were also abundant in epithelial nuclei of proximal and distal efferent ductules. In comparison, caput epididymidis showed very little immunostaining for ESR1.

Three‐dimensional structure of efferent and epididymal ducts in mice

“…Considering that the ducts are formed in the direction from the epididymis side to the testis side during development (Joseph et al 2009), the present results are reasonable. In addition, the blind-ended ducts in the present study on mice contained no spermatozoa in the lumen, consistent with previous studies on rats and hamsters (Guttroff et al 1992;Ford et al 2014), but in contrast with those on larger mammals (Hemeida et al 1978).…”

The cellular localization and redistribution of multiple aquaporin paralogs in the spermatic duct epithelium of a maturing marine teleost

“…Thus, AQP1 is present in the cilia of the efferent duct epithelial cells but not in the epididymal epithelium (Ford et al. ; Arrighi et al. ), while this channel is found in the apical membrane of endothelial cells in both regions (Badran & Hermo, ; Oliveira et al.…”

Immunolocalization of G Protein‐Coupled Estrogen Receptor in the Pig Epididymis

“…Expression of the classical estrogen receptors (ERα and ERβ) in the ductuli efferentes and epididymis of different species (Hess et al, ) suggests that estrogens are involved in the modulation of these genital ducts activities. In fact, ERα and ERβ were evidenced in ductuli efferentes of human, monkey (Saunders et al, ), rat (Atanassova et al, ; Oliveira et al, ), mouse (Zhou et al, ), dog, cat (Nie et al, ) and hamster (Ford et al, ). Furthermore, ERα and ERβ were also detected in the epididymis of dog, cat (Nie et al, ), mouse (Yamashita, ), pig (Carpino et al, ), boar (Pearl et al, a; b) and hamster (Ford et al, ), however a cell‐type and species‐specific distribution of these receptors was observed in the different epididymal regions.…”

“…In fact, ERα and ERβ were evidenced in ductuli efferentes of human, monkey (Saunders et al, ), rat (Atanassova et al, ; Oliveira et al, ), mouse (Zhou et al, ), dog, cat (Nie et al, ) and hamster (Ford et al, ). Furthermore, ERα and ERβ were also detected in the epididymis of dog, cat (Nie et al, ), mouse (Yamashita, ), pig (Carpino et al, ), boar (Pearl et al, a; b) and hamster (Ford et al, ), however a cell‐type and species‐specific distribution of these receptors was observed in the different epididymal regions. These studies support the hypothesis that estrogens play a crucial role in modulating the functions of efferent ductules and epididymis, particularly that ERα is essential for the maintenance of a luminal environment permitting normal development of sperm motility and seminal plasma volume regulation (Hess et al, ).…”