Three-dimensional reconstruction of a rat stage V Sertoli cell: I. Methods, basic configuration, and dimensions

A model of a rat stage V Sertoli cell was reconstructed from semiserial sections. Seventy-five montages were made from 96 grids that supported the 223 sections needed to traverse the reconstructed cell. Section thickness (184.6 nm) and spacing of sections were calculated based on the diameter of spherical germ cell nuclei included within the sections. The outline of the cell border was traced on acetate sheets and from there traced on Plexiglas; then the Plexiglas was cut with a hot wire. The model, enlarged to a magnification of 7,800 times, was made from five parts that may be disassembled. The cell dimensions, as determined from the model, were 89.8 micron in the centripetal axis, 41.2 micron in the longitudinal axis, and 29.5 micron in the circumferential axis. The cell was irregularly columnar in shape with a base resting on the basal lamina and lateral surfaces in contact with adjacent Sertoli cells and round germ cells. Lateral processes were of three types: 1) conical processes extending from the lateral surface near its base; 2) cup-shaped, sheet-like processes partially encompassing round germ cells; and 3) flattened, sheet-like processes extending between round germ cells. Elongate spermatids occupied deep, irregularly shaped cylindrical recesses oriented in the centripetal axis of the Sertoli cell. The walls of the Sertoli cell forming these cylinders were thick basally and sheet-like and very thin near the lumen where they anastomosed and also composed the lateral walls of the cell. The tapered luminal extensions of the sheet-like, cylindrical processes were termed apical processes. The volume of the reconstructed cell was calculated to be 6,012 micron3. This study has provided the first unencumbered view of the external profile of a Sertoli cell. The model represents one of two major configurations that the Sertoli cell assumes during the spermatogenic cycle.