Summary
The effect of thyrotropic hormone (TSH) on the salamander thyroid gland was studied by electron microscopy. The following sequence of changes in the follicular cells was observed: (1) 1–1.5 hrs after a single administration of 1 i.u. of TSH, many large colloid droplets appear in the apical cytoplasm; (2) within about 2 hrs hereafter, most of them are replaced by large vacuolar bodies, and cytosomes are remarkably decreased; (3) 2.5–3 hrs after two administrations of 1 i.u. of TSH at an interval of 20 hrs, large vacuolar bodies with or without filaments are frequently observed but cytosomes are hardly encountered; (4) in the group placed at room temperature for 10 days after a single administration of TSH, large vacuolar bodies almost disappear; (5) in the group placed in the ice room for 10 days after the same treatment, large vacuolar bodies with or without filaments frequently appear but cytosomes almost disappear; and (6) in some of large vacuolar bodies with filaments the different stages of crystalloid formation are discernible. From these findings, it is suggested that large colloid droplets are changed into large vacuolar bodies and that crystalloid originates from large vacuolar bodies with filaments, probably as a result of interrupted hydrolysis caused by a deficiency of cytosomes.
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Setoguti, T. Electron microscopic study on the thyroid gland of the salamander Hynobius nebulosus in the breeding season. Z. Zellforsch 137, 195–208 (1973). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00307430
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00307430