Covers the epididymal duct on an H&E slide, where many cross-sections of the tightly coiled tube show tall pseudostratified columnar epithelium with long stereocilia projecting into the lumen. It lists the staining colours and the features to look for, such as spermatozoa in the lumen and a thin smooth muscle ring. It also contrasts stereocilia with motile cilia as seen in the trachea, noting that stereocilia are immotile and lack basal bodies.
Inside: 1 section · 1 min
Topic 94 of 127 in the MU Sofia syllabus for Cytology (Dental Medicine, Year 1). The free AceMed note covers it in 1 section, about 123 words (1 min of reading).
In this note
Introduction
Introduction
The duct of the epididymis is one long, tightly coiled tube, so the section shows many cross-sections of it. It demonstrates stereocilia, a specialized structure of the cell membrane.
Stain
H&E: nuclei blue-purple, cytoplasm pink.
How to recognise it
Many round profiles of the duct, each with a smooth, even lumen.
Very tall pseudostratified columnar epithelium: tall principal cells and small round basal cells.
Long, thin stereocilia projecting into the lumen, often stuck together in tufts.
Spermatozoa in the lumen and a thin ring of smooth muscle around each profile.
Don't confuse it with: motile cilia, as in the trachea. Stereocilia are long, branched, immotile microvilli with no row of basal bodies beneath them.
Theory: topic 15 (specialized structures of the cell membrane).
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