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Cell&Tissue
Research
9 Springer-Verlag 1995
Instituto de Neurociencia (INEUCI), Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Cientfficas y Tdcnicas (CONICET), Departamento de Ciencias
Biol6gicas, Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Natnrales, Universidad de Buenos Aires, Argentina
Received: 20 March 1995 / Accepted: 23 June 1995
Abstract. We report the presence of atypical pinealocytes as components of epiphyseal follicles in the adult
South American opossum Didelphis albiventris. Their
main characteristic is a bulbous-shaped apical cytoplasmic extension which protrudes towards the follicular lumen among the microvilli and cilia of neighbouring
ependymal cells. They resemble the photoreceptor-like
pinealocytes of sauropsids and developing photoreceptors in the retina of newborn mammals. Morphological
characteristics enable us to classify them as cells of the
receptor line.
Key words: Pineal organ - Pinealocytes - Secretory rudimentary photoreceptors - Ultrastructure - Didelphis
aIbiventris (Marsupialia)
Introduction
Materials and methods
365
sections (50-60 per pineal) of the follicular zone were double
stained in uranyl acetate and lead citrate. They were examined in a
transmission electron microscope, Siemens Elmiskop I.
Acknowledgements. The authors wish to thank Dr. Amanda Pellegrino de Iraldi and Professor Andreas Oksche for their advice and
critical reading of this paper, Professor Jean-Pierre Collin for his
discussion, and Mrs. Margarita Lopez for the microphotographs
obtained. The technical assistance of Mrs. Isabel Farias in the
preparation of ultrathin sections is gratefully acknowledged.
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