Quantitative analysis of zonulae occludentes between oviductal epithelial cells at diestrous and estrous stages in the mouse: freeze-fracture study.

The zonulae occludentes between oviductal epithelial cells were quantitatively analyzed at diestrous and estrous stages in the mouse, using the freeze-fracture technique. Zonulae occludentes were predominantly anastomosing at the diestrous stage, while they were predominantly parallel at the estrous stage. The lowest mean value of junctional strands comprising the zonulae occludentes was 5.3 +/- 1.6. Parallel-type zonulae occludentes had more strands than the anastomosing type. Secretory cells usually had more strands than ciliated cells. The shallowest mean depth occupied by junctional domain was 0.51 +/- 0.20 micron. The depth was usually somewhat greater in anastomosing-type zonulae occludentes than in the parallel type. It was also slightly greater in ciliated cells than in secretory cells. The depth was likely to be greater at diestrous stage than at the estrous stage. However, neither the number of strands nor the depth was significantly different between diestrous and estrous stages in homologous types of zonulae occludentes. On the basis of these results, the zonulae occludentes in oviductal epithelium are considered to be morphologically of a tight type at any time period throughout the estrous cycle. The results of lanthanum tracer experiments suggest that the zonulae occludentes in the oviductal epithelium do not always function as a barrier to the exogenous tracer. These morphological phenomena are discussed in relation to mouse fertilization in vivo.