Summary
An electron microscopic survey of pinealocytes from normal rats revealed a highly organized arrangement of cytoplasmic tubules. Such tubules had been previously observed in normal rats (Lin, 1967) and in rats after melatonin administration or two weeks exposure to darkness (Freire and Cardinali, 1975). In a later publication the presence of the tubules was attributed to experimental manipulation resulting in infertility (Gusek, 1976). The present study resolves the discrepancy in the literature by establishing that the tubular organelle does indeed occur in untreated male rats, but rather rarely.
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The author expresses her sincere appreciation to Professor J. Ariëns Kappers and Professor H.-S. Lin for their suggestions concerning this paper, and to Nicki Smith and Dan Whitehead for skilled technical assistance
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McNeill, M.E. An unusual organelle in the pineal gland of the rat. Cell Tissue Res. 184, 133–137 (1977). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00220533
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00220533