Male Reproductive System Flashcards
What are the functions of the male reproductive system?
Production of spermatozoa, delivery of semen into female reproductive tract and production of androgens (testosterone)
What are the two layers of mesothelium in the scrotum?
Parietal and visceral tunica vaginalis
What is the capsule called that covers the testis?
Tunica Albuginea
What sends septa into the testis?
Tunica Vasculosa
What is each seminiferous tubule connected with?
Tubuli recti to a network of channels known as the rete testis
Function of rete testis?
Carries sperm out of the testis by connecting to a series of efferent ducts that form part of the head of the epididymis
What does the body and tail of the epididymis form?
A single coiled tube
What conveys sperm away from the scrotum along the spermatic cord during ejaculation?
Vas deferens
What lines the seminiferous tubules?
Seminiferous epithelium with sertoli cells
What is found in the interstices between the tubules within the connective tissue?
Leydig cells
What are Leydig cells?
Endocrine cells producing testosterone
What is the process of proliferation and maturation that transforms diploid spermatogonia into haploid spermatozoa?
Spermatogeneis
How does a clonal syncytium form?
From every mitotic division that results in type B spermatogonia onwards cytokinesis is incomplete
Is the Meiosis 1 fast or slow?
Slow
Is Meiosis 2 fast or slow?
Fast
What are present between germ cells?
Support cells and sertoli cells
What cell extends all the way from the basal lamina to the lumen of the tubule?
Sertoli cells
Functions of Sertoli cells?
Secrete factors that regulate spermatogenesis and spermiogenesis
Secrete factors that control Leydig cells
Secrete tubular fluid
Phagocytose discarded spermatid cytoplasm
Divide the tubule epithelium into 2 compartments via tight junctions
What does Adluminal compartment contain?
All other developing cells
What does Basal compartment contain?
Spermatogonia and early primary spermatocytes
What is the process that release spermatozoa by the Sertoli cells into the lumen of the seminiferous tubule?
Spermination
Where are the rete testis found?
At the end of seminiferous tubules