Incorporation and Intracellular Hydrolysis of 131 I-Albumin Injected in Rat Testis

A method of cell separation by enzymatic attack and filtration was applied after injecting the testes. The results indicated that in the case of the interstitial injections, the fraction rich in interstitial cells captures from 30 to 50 times more RISA than that rich in germinal cells, and from 10 to 20 times more than that rich in Sertoli cells. Following the intratubular injection, radioactivity incorporation was greatly reduced and there were no differences in RISA (radioactivity/mg of protein) among the cell fractions. It was concluded that Sertoli cells do not have in its apical side a phagocytic activity comparable to that of the interstitial macrophages and possibly they incorporate only a small amount of tracer by a process of moderate pinocytosis.