Summary
Estradiol-17β and progesterone at physiological concentrations in vivo induced a reduction in lysosomal stability in the digestive cells of Mytilus edulis. Estradiol-17β (10−8 M) also reduced lysosomal stability within 15min in vitro. Lysosomal stability was determined cytochemically as the labilisation period for latent N-acetyl-β-hexosaminidase and this was shown to be inversely related to microdensitometric measurements of staining intensity for this enzyme. Estradiol-17β did not appear to induce complete labilisation or cytochemical activation of lysosomal hexosaminidase and a second, much longer labilisation period could be determined for this hormone. The effects of estradiol-17β were partially counteracted by cortisol (10−2 M). There was an increase in PAS staining of secondary lysosomes and an increase in alcian blue staining of residual bodies in digestive cells of animals exposed to estradiol-17β, while no changes could be observed in basophil cells. The significance of these results is discussed in terms of the physiological role of digestive cells and their possible function as target cells for estradiol-17β and progesterone.
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The authors wish to thank Dr. B.L. Bayne for his helpful discussion and suggestions during the progress of this work. Thanks are also due to Prof. Gareth Owen, Prof. M.R. Tripp and Dr. D.W. Halton for critically reviewing the manuscript. The work forms part of the experimental ecology programme of the Institute for Marine Environmental Research, a component of the Natural Environment Research Council. It was commissioned in part by the Department of the Environment (Contract No. DGR 480/47), and is published with their permission
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Moore, M.N., Lowe, D.M. & Fieth, P.E.M. Responses of lysosomes in the digestive cells of the common mussel, Mytilus edulis, to sex steroids and cortisol. Cell Tissue Res. 188, 1–9 (1978). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00220510
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00220510