Panopto 33: Male Reproductive

Question 1

describe seminiferous tubules?

Answer 1

long and convoluted

Question 2

What are the testes mainly made up of?

Answer 2

seminiferous tubules

Question 3

How do we describe the testes?

Answer 3

donut-shaped profiles due to cross sections being cut through the seminiferous tubules, the donut hole is called the lumen (cavity inside the tubule)

Question 4

What is the tissue outside the seminiferous tubule called?

Answer 4

interstital tissue (Connective tissue), or leydig cells

Question 5

what are the 2 regions immediately outside the tubule wall?

Answer 5

1. basement membrane: tissue above this is an epithelium, so it must have a free surface
2. lamina propria: connective tissue with specialized CT cells called myofibroblasts (myoid cells); they are muscle-like rather than like fibroblasts. There are more than 2 layers, usually 3-5 layers, of these myoid cells.

Question 6

Why do these tubules have myoid cells?

Answer 6

One reason is that the contraction from the muscle-like cells causes a change in the tube itself, and the contraction will aid in the separation and release of germ cells from the tubule wall and into the lumen.
A second reason is that the tubular lumen contains a fluid and that fluid has a suspension of immature germ cells that have been shed from the surface so when contraction occurs, it allows this fluid to flow. This then means immature imotile cells suspended in the fluid are able to flow wherever the fluid goes. This is how they flow from the tubule to other parts of the reproductive system

Question 7

why is lamina propria rare?

Answer 7

It only lines body cavities that connect to the outside world. Mucosa and mucus membranes are what line it. The seminiferous tubules connect to the outside world

Question 8

What is the entire male reproductive tract lined with?

Answer 8

mucus membrane

Question 9

What kind of epithelium lines the seminiferous tubule walls?

Answer 9

stratified epithelium

Question 10

What types of cells are found in the tubule wall (stratified epithelium)?

Answer 10

1. Germ cells (spermatogenic)
2. Sertoli cells (sustentacular cells) not spermatogenic

Question 11

Define spermatogenic

Answer 11

ability to produce sperm cells

Question 12

What does sustentacular cell mean?

Answer 12

supporting cell

Question 13

Can we replace a sustentacular cell from 1 location to another?

Answer 13

no the cells belong to a specific epithelium

Question 14

can sertoli cells produce sperm

Answer 14

NO

Question 15

describe sertoli cells

Answer 15

very large and also tall columnar cells that extend all the way from the basement membrane to the free surface. A tall columnar cell that is in stratified epithelium doesnt happen often

Question 16

What is the most numerous cell in the tubule wall?

Answer 16

germ cells

Question 17

Which cell group is responsible for the epithelium being stratified?

Answer 17

germ cells

Question 18

How many layers of germ cells are there in this stratified epithelium, and what do they represent?

Answer 18

The 3 layers represent a different state of cellular differentiation and the changes that occur from layer to layer are often dramatic

Question 19

What is this cellular differentiation a good example of?

Answer 19

Cytomorphosis

Question 20

Which cell has more variability, germ cells or sertoli cells?

Answer 20

germ cells