Fluorescence histochemistry of the surface epithelium and stroma in the rhesus monkey ovary

The surface epithelium and stromal elements in the ovary of the rhesus monkey were studied with a variety of fluorescence-histochemical procedures to determine the relative distribution of specific chemical moieties. The surface (germinal) epithelium displayed high levels of cytoplasmic RNA and specifically intense fluorescence with methods that demonstrate basic, SH and SS groups of protein. The underlying basement membrane demonstrated an intense reaction when fluorochromed with hydroxynaphthoic acid hydrazide directed toward side-chain carboxyl groups of protein. The fluorescence pattern displayed by the underlying connective tissue was heterogeneous and related to its anatomical localization. It is suggested that this heterogeneity reflects specific, but as yet undefined, chemical differences in the fibrous elements of the ovary.