Reproductive System
Mammary Gland, Ovary, Oviduct, Uterus, Testes, Epididymus, Vas deferens, Prostate Gland

Slide 45

Detail of one lobule of an inactive mammary gland. Note that the intralobular ducts branch frequently but have no secretory acini at their endings.Mammary gland (inactive): composed mostly of pale, wide, connective tissue interlobular septa with scattered lobules containing small dark cross-cuts of many intralobular ducts. There are very few, if any, secretory alveoli in the inactive gland. Much of the interlobular tissue is adipose tissue. There is one, large, interlobular duct toward the lower right corner of the field.

Slide 13

Oviduct with highly labyrinthine mucosa. Each piece of folded, branching mucosa is lined with simple columnar epithelium. The rest of the wall is rather thin and shows interlaced smooth muscle bundles.

Slide 44

Low power view of seminiferous tubules. These tubules are very long and tightly coiled, so each one is cut many times in any given section of the testis. Blood vessels and interstitial cells of Leydig lie in the connective tissue stroma between the tubules.

Slide 59

Ductus deferens with its proportionally small lumen and heavy muscular coat. The bulk of the smooth muscle is circular, but there is a thin inner longitudinal and a somewhat thicker outer longitudinal layer.

Slide 61

Prostate gland with both distended and infolded epithelial linings of the secretory portions. The saccular secretory tubules lie in a dense connective tissue framework (stained pink here). The prostate, along with the seminal vesicles and bulbo-urethral glands, contributes nourishing and lubricating fluids to the ejaculated semen.

Slide 6

A group of follicles in various stages of early development in the cortex of a rat ovary. Blood vessels of the ovarian medulla are seen in the center of the field. Development of follicles is regulated by FSH from the anterior pituitary.

Slide 17

Overview of uterine wall in the early post-menstrual stage. Only the basal layer of endometrium is present. Glands are sparse.

Slide 52

Wall of seminiferous tubule. Along the base can be seen small dark nuclei of spermatogonia and large, pale, ovoid or triangular nuclei of Sertoli cells, each with a prominent nucleolus. Sperm heads are imbedded in folds of Sertoli cell membrane, rather deep within the tubule wall. Sperm tails are pointing toward the tubule lumen. Primary spermatocytes have large nuclei with the condensed chromosomes in prophase, near the base of the wall. The small, round nuclei toward the lumen belong to early spermatids. Pale pink cytoplasmic cast-offs from differentiating spermatids (becoming sperm) lie next to the lumen. Look again at the two Sertoli cells farthest to the left and notice how their cytoplasm meets near the base to form the basal and adluminal compartments on either side of the junction.

Slide 55

Epididymis with pseudostratified columnar epithelium with stereocilia. (Stereocilia are structurally like microvilli rather than like true cilia. They do not move.) Each cross-cut of tubule shows some surrounding smooth muscle cells. Notice how very regular this epithelium is in height, making an unusually smooth apical line near the lumen. This is characteristic of epididymis. Compare this with the "scalloped" edge of efferent ducts in the previous slides.