Abstract
In some acidophile and chromophobe cells of mouse anterior pituitary the delicate filamentous or granular materials stained with hematoxylin by hematoxylin-eosin stain are localized in various parts of the cytoplasm. These materials react with pyronin of the Unna-Pappenheim stain, and are eliminated after ribonuclease digestion. From this fact, it can be considered that they contain ribonucleic acid.
From the localization of these filamentous materials these cells were divided into three types, viz. first, second and third types, and these types were represented respectively by the cell in which is observed on the surface of the nucleus a thin layer of these materials (I type), by that in which the main part of these materials is separated from the surface of the nucleus into the cytoplasmic body itself (II type) and by that in which very compact masses of these materials are localized at the cell periphery (III type).
In bilateral adrenalectomized mice, these cells show a decrease in number after operation. At 5th day after operation, these cells are observed only a few. At 7th to 20th day, moreover, they disappear almost entirely. At 30th day first type cells begin to appear again. Since then all three cell types gradually increase in number.
In unilateral adrenalectomized mice, these three types described above can be seen, even if they are fewer than the normal throughout experiment. At 10th day after operation, these cells show the fewest appearance.
In other words, a marked reduction of RNA in acidophile and chromophobe cells are found in adrenalectomized mice. From this, it can be suggested that acidophile and chromophobe cells, especially the former, are in a hypofunctional state, and that acidophile cells of the anterior pituitary may have a certain functional relationship to the adrenal cortex.
