Structural and functional aspects of cultured epididymal epithelial cells isolated from pubertal rats

Acidic epididymal glycoprotein (AEG) and androgen-binding protein (ABP) antisera were used to study functional activities of primary cell cultures of the epididymal epithelium of 20--23-day-old rats. Extensive AEG immunoreactivity was associated with almost all epithelial cells of the distal caput, corpus and cauda epididymidis. ABP immunoreactivity was solely confined to some epithelial cells of the caput epididymidis. AEG and ABP immunoreactive cells were identified as principal cells. Morphological studies of enzymically dispersed aggregates of the epididymal epithelial cells showed that stromal cells were satisfactorily removed and that cell aggregates consisted of a predominant population for cells displaying the morphological characteristics of principal cells. Scanning and transmission electron microscopic studies of cultured epididymal epithelial cells in monolayers demonstrated that microvilli and pit-like invaginations of the cell surface were preserved during the first 7--10 days of culture and then gradually disappeared. Other characteristic subcellular structures such as Golgi apparatus and rough endoplasmic reticulum cisterna were preserved. Electrophoretic analysis of [35S]methionine-labelled secretory polypeptides released by epididymal epithelial cells into the culture medium demonstrated a distinct protein band pattern which differed from that observed in the medium of cultured rat Sertoli cells. These results demonstrate that primary cultures of epididymal epithelial cells isolated from sexually immature rats maintain several differentiated characteristics of the intact organ and therefore provide a valuable system for the study of epididymal epithelial cell function.