Male Reproductive Tract Flashcards
(18 cards)
Identify the structure. What processes occur in its epithelium?
Seminiferous tubule.
Mitosis and meiosis.
Identify A.
Corpora Cavernosa
Identify B.
Tunica albuginea
Identify C.
Corpus spongiosum
Identify D.
Penile urethra
Identify E.
Superficial fascia
Identify.
Secretoy epithelium of the seminal vesicle.
The structure shown is the seminal vesicle. This is visible in the low power image as a tube with the lumen cut through several times. The mucosa displays bridges (characteristic of the seminal vesicle). Corpora amylacea are not present so this is no the prostate. It is not the epididymis (a coiled tube with lumen cut through several times), as the epididymis is lined by tall pseudostratified columnar epithelium with evident and numerous stereocilia, and this is columnar to occasionally pseudostratified without stereocilia.
Idenitfy A
Rete testis.
Identify B.
Efferent ductules.
Idenitfy C. How many tubes is it comprised of?
Epididymis.
One tube.
Identify the organ.
What is commonly found in its glandular tissue?
Prostate.
Concretions.
Prostatic concretions or corpora amylacea are found in the glands of older men. Corpora amylacea appear in sections as concentric lamellated bodies that may be partly calcified and are believed to form by precipitation of secretory material around cell fragments.
Identify the structure.
Which hormone does this structure produce?
Epithelium lining the seminiferous tubule.
Sertoli cells in this lining produce adrogen binding protein (ABP).
Identify the organ.
What structure is indicated by the black arrows?
What is it composed of?
Prostate.
Prostatic stroma.
Collagen and smooth muscle bundles (fibromuscular).
Identify the organ.
Identified the structures indicated by the black arrows.
Prostate.
Ejaculatory ducts.
Identify the structure sitting between the two ejaculatory ducts.
Prostatic utricle.
Identify the the cells outlined in white.
What hormone do they produce?
Leydig cells.
Testosterone.
Leydig cells - are large and can be identified by their eosinophilic and slightly foamy staining, and location, sitting outside and between seminiferous tubules.
Describe the hormonal pathway that these cells are a part of.
Anterior pituitary –> LH –> Leydig cells –> Testosterone –> negative feedback
Identify the cells outlined in white and describe their function.
Spermatids.
Undergo spermatogenesis to form spermatozoa.
These are spermatids - identified as small cells with condensed, darkly staining spherical nuclei, found near the lumen of the seminiferous tubule.
Spermatids undergo spermiogenesis (the final stage of sperm production) to mature into spermatozoa.
Distinguished from:
spermatogonia - these are large cells resting on the basement membrane
spermatocytes - these are large cells, with large amounts of cytoplasm and clumpy chromatin (meiosis)found within the germinal epithelium
spermatozoa - very small condense and pointed nucleus, in the lumen
