Cytochemical studies of the multivesicular bodies
Multivesicular bodies were observed frequently in electron microscope photographs of Leydig cells from normal adult rat testes. Their formation, evolution and fate were analyzed morphologically in preparations treated to show cytidine monophosphatase ( CMPase ) activity and in animals sacrificed at various time intervals ranging from 5 minutes to 2 hours after a single intratesticular injection of cationic ferritin. The CMPase medium contains 2mM cerium chloride, 2mM cytidine monophosphate, 5mM manganese chloride and 40mM sodium acetate buffer ( pH 5.0 ) with 4% sucrose. Cationic ferritin was used as a tracer for demonstrating the endocytic activity of Leydig cells.Cytochemical experiments showed that, in contrast to lysosomes which were CMPase positive, the premultivesicular bodies and the pale multivesicular bodies were CMPase negative. The dense multivesicular bodies were frequently apposed to strongly reactive lysosomes and they aquire their hydrolytic enzymes by fusion with lysosomes and showed CMPase activity.