Summary
Examined with the electron microscope the zona pellucida of human oocytes represents an extracellular, amorphous substance with slight differences in density. There is a greater consolidation in the inner parts and a drecrease of density towards the periphery. The plasmalemma of the oocyte forms a large number of slender projections (microvilli) penetrating the homogeneous groundsubstance of the zona pellucida. Plasmatic elongations of the follicle cells extending towards the oocyte traverse the zona in oblique or tangential directions and end at the oocytes surface forming a contact relationship (partially characteristic desmosomes). No syncytial communication between ooplasma and follicle cell cytoplasm can be demonstrated. The follicle cell processes contain finely granular material. The cytoplasm of numerous follicle cells facing the oocyte containes branched deposits of compact and dense substances with a granular ground-structure. Histochemically these substances react like anionic polysaccharides. Alternating zones of the follicle cell membranes show vaguely outlined lesser density. Intra- and extraplasmatic granular concentrations in these areas probably represent secretion processes. Acid mucopolysaccharides are the primary substrat of the zona pellucida whose deposition begins almost in the state of a bilaminar secondary follicle. Possibly this material is incorporated in the definite complex of glycoproteins by means of loss or binding of the acid groups (uronic acids, ester sulphates). PAS-positive inclusions about 1,0 to 1,5 μ in diameter lying in the cytoplasm of the follicle cells immediately adjacent to the plasmalemma or in open communication with the perivitelline space, represent probably paraplasmatic components for the building of the zona. Studied with the electron microscope these inclusions resemble strikingly the amorphous and cloudy ground substance of the zona pellucida. Stratified structures which would embody an appositional growth of the zona have not been demonstrated.
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Stegner, H.E., Wartenberg, H. Elektronenmikroskopische und histotopochemische Untersuchungen über Struktur und Bildung der Zona pellucida menschlicher Eizellen. Zeitschrift für Zellforschung 53, 702–713 (1961). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00339516
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00339516