Secretory Cells and Morphological Manifestation of Secretion in the Mouse Oviduct

The structure of secretory cells and granules has been described in the mouse Fallopian tube during sexual maturation and oestrous cycle. The oviducts of newborn mice were lined with a simple columnar epithelium in which only tall indifferent cells of uniform appearance were present. In some of these cells, marks of ciliogenesis were observed. The occurrence of secretory cells showing proteosynthetic activity and formation of secretory granules was registered in the oviducts of mouse females at the age of 14 days after birth for the first time. Secretory granules were formed but not released from the cells during sexual maturation, which takes the first 6 to 7 postnatal weeks. Secretory granules and vesicles of several types were found in secretory cells in the oviducts of adult animals. The granules were released into the lumen by way of apocrine secretion. The morphological signs of eccrine secretion of the content of vesicles were occasionally observed. The ratio of secretory cells in the oviduct epithelium and the production of secretory products were increased around and after ovulation in cycling animals. The processes of secretion in the oviduct epithelium are dependent on the level of ovarian hormones. The influence of these hormones was studied in animals treated with exogenous hormones during their sexual maturation.