Electron microscopic observations on the epithelium of ram seminal vesicles

The ultrastructure of the secretory cells of the ram seminal vesicle was studied on material fixed by immersion or by vascular perfusion. The signs of apocrine secretion seen after immersion fixation did not appear after perfusion fixation and are therefore interpreted as artefacts. Instead, vacuoles with a granule in them were seen. Such vacuoles were observed in the Golgi apparatus and in the apical cytoplasm. Further indications of merocrine secretion were also found. It therefore appears that protein secretion in the ram seminal vesicle follows the typical pattern of serous glands. The possibility that fructose is extruded with the protein as the vacuoles open at the luminal cell surface is discussed.