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Structure of the nongranulated cells in the hypophyseal rostral pars distalis of cyclostomes and actinopterygians

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Summary

The structure of the nongranulated cells in the sea lamprey adenohypophysis and similar cells of the rostral pars distalis in a number of actinopterygian fishes was examined with the aim of determining the role(s) of these cells in pituitary function.

A number of possible roles are proposed for the nongranulated cells. In salmonids and Amia calva the cells may be involved in the active movement of material into or from the follicle lumina. The structure of the nongranulated cells in in vitro cultured and in in vivo transplanted trout rostral pars distalis also suggests a phagocytotic role for these cells. In teleosts with a non-follicular rostral pars distalis the nongranulated cells appear to play roles in the release of granules from the prolactin cells and in the subsequent dispersal of the hormone (and/or carrier substance) into the peripheral circulation.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Zoology, University of Guelph, Guelph, Canada

    John F. Leatherland

  2. Freshwater Institute, Winnipeg, Canada

    R. Percy

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  1. John F. Leatherland
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  2. R. Percy
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Additional information

We wish to thank Dr. B.I. Baker who performed the trout pituitary in vitro cultures and Professor M. Hyder who was closely involved with the collection of the Tilapia specimens. We also wish to thank Mr. R. Lindsay and Mrs. L. Lin for their technical assistance and Drs. F.W.H. Beamish and R. Sonstegard for their help in supplying some of the animals used in this study. —The work was supported in part by a grant-in-aid of research from the National Research Council of Canada to J.F.L. and in part by a negotiated NRC grant. The paper is number 138 in the physiology of migration series.

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Leatherland, J.F., Percy, R. Structure of the nongranulated cells in the hypophyseal rostral pars distalis of cyclostomes and actinopterygians. Cell Tissue Res. 166, 185–200 (1976). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00227040

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00227040

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