The possible role of hemidesmosomes in neonatally estrogen-induced selection of a permanently altered abnormal vaginal epithelium
✍ Scribed by Cunha, Gerald R. ;Lee, Andrew K.
- Publisher
- John Wiley and Sons
- Year
- 1978
- Tongue
- English
- Weight
- 896 KB
- Volume
- 203
- Category
- Article
- ISSN
- 0022-104X
No coin nor oath required. For personal study only.
✦ Synopsis
Abstract
In untreated and neonatally‐estrogenized (E) Balb/c mice the numbers of hemidesmosomes per basal cell cross section (HD/bccs) gradually increases from 0.07 HD/bccs on day 1 to about 2 to 3 HD/bccs on day 4 postpartum. In untreated mice the incidence of HD's increases and plateaus at 6 to 7 HD/bccs on days 5 and 8, while during this same period in E‐treated mice the incidence is increased to 14 to 15 HD/bccs. In 5‐day‐old E‐treated mice two types of basal vaginal epithelial cells can be recognized: basophilic cells rich in HD (19.5 ± 2.1 HD/bccs) and light cells containing only 5.3 ± 3.3 HD/bccs. The basophilic, HD‐rich cells appear to replace the lighter HD‐poor cells. The hypothesis that HD's are involved in the estradiol‐induced selection of an abnormal vaginal epithelium is discussed.