Osmium-impregnation patterns of the Golgi complex in the epididymal epithelial cells of castrated and testosterone-injected mice.

After prolonged exposure of mouse epididymal epithelial cells to a solution of osmium tetroxide, reduced osmium compounds were detected in the Golgi cisternae and in the cytoplasm adjacent to the Golgi complex. Their appearance changed in time under certain conditions. Eight days after castration each cisterna of the regularly arranged Golgi lamellae fragmented into small vesicles, in which deposits of reduced osmium compound were in reduced amounts or completely absent, but no notable decrease of the fine reduced osmium particles in the cytoplasm adjacent to the Golgi complex occurred. The amount of deposit in the Golgi cisternae in castrated mice recovered to the normal level after the subcutaneous injection of testosterone for two weeks. On the other hand, the osmium particles observed in the cytoplasm adjacent to the Golgi complex during the recovery process of the lamellar structure increased in amount. This study showed that the reduced osmium compounds were of two kinds, and that the deposits contained in the Golgi cisternae were related to secretory products, and might be controlled by hormonal factors, but the fine reduced osmium particles that appeared in the cytoplasm adjacent to the Golgi complex might be regulated by other factors.