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The Power of Simplicity: Sea Urchin Embryos as in Vivo Developmental Models for Studying Complex Cell-to-cell Signaling Network Interactions
Published on: February 16, 2017
An ultrastructural study of testes permeability in sea urchins, Strongylocentrotus intermedius
1A.V. Zhirmunsky Institute of Marine Biology, Far Eastern Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences, 17 Palchevskogo str., Vladivostok 690041, Russia.
Abstract:
Permeability of testes in sea urchins, Strongylocentrotus intermedius, was investigated by using an electron-opaque tracer, lanthanum nitrate. This tracer is able to enter the basal compartment of germinative epithelium, where developing germ cells are located. However, its ability to penetrate the gonadal lumen was reduced. An incomplete permeability barrier between the basal compartment and the gonadal lumen is supposed to exist in testes of S. intermedius.

