Fine Structural Criteria for Pituitary Thyrotrophs in Immature and Mature Rats

Fine structural criteria for identifying thyroid-stimulating hormone (TSH) cells in immature and mature rats have been studied by a modified superimposition technique. On days 10 and 20, some small oval immature TSH cells are scattered individually throughout the glandular tissue with a peripheral immunoreactive rim resulting from the sparse distribution of minute secretory granules less than 50 nm in diameter. The immunostained stellate TSH cells are clustered and have secretory granules 50-100 nm in diameter at the cell margins. On day 60, a few small immature TSH cells still remain. Although a few polygonal TSH cells that may not fully mature accumulate secretory granules 100-150 nm in diameter at the cell margins, the majority of TSH cells take the form of large stellate cells filled with secretory granules with the corresponding diameter, and surround an acidophil. These stellate TSH cells are characterized by dense arrangement of parallel arrays of rough endoplasmic reticulum (rER) or rER cisternae. The clustered or isolated elongate TSH cells are also observed to be vesiculated and to have numerous secretory granules 150-250 nm in diameter. In addition, large oval vesiculated TSH cells storing numerous secretory granules 150-250 nm in diameter appear sporadically in the gland, ultrastructurally resembling the gonadotrophs. It is concluded that the rat TSH cell is not a single type with a particular ultrastructure, but modifies its morphology according to its maturation or functional phase.