Summary
The follicle cells which surround the oocytes of starfish are known to both release the hormone 1-methyladenine and to respond to it by an active movement which forms a component of the spawning response to the hormone. In Patiria miniata these flagellated cells are located peripheral to the oocyte and have long cytoplasmic processes which penetrate the vitelline layer to the egg surface to form an adhering zonule-like junction. Within the follicle cell cytoplasm are located elongate filamentous bands which appear to represent a component of the contractile mechanism that mediates follicle cell response to 1-methyladenine. These bands do not resemble the filaments of vertebrate smooth muscle cells (quantity, distribution and size of filaments; lack of dense bodies in the filament mass), nor the contractile units of the superficial epithelium of lower vertebrate follicles.
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This investigation was supported by grants HD-07194 and HD-12499 from the National Institutes of Health. We are indebted to Mr. James D. Huber for able technical assistance
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Schroeder, P.C., Larsen, J.H. & Waldo, A.E. Oocyte-follicle cell relationships in a starfish. Cell Tissue Res. 203, 249–256 (1979). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00237239
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00237239