Department of Zoology
Southern Illinois University at Carbondale
ZOOL 409, Lab Week 11
Lab notes offer a preview of upcoming labs and links to more information about tissues examined during lab.
- Week 11 lecture notes
- SYLLABUS (including links to all note pages)
- 409 Homepage (index of course resources)
- Dr. King's School of Medicine histology page
- Slide summary
TUESDAY
Primary objective:Continue examination of kidney.
- Slide 02 (also slide from Ms. Doran) -- kidney. There's a LOT going on, histologically, in the kidney. Begin by finding the basic regions.
- Capsule -- the outermost layer of connective tissue, enveloping the kidney.
- Cortex -- the outer region of kidney, consisting of convoluted tubules with scattered renal corpuscles.
- Medulla -- the deeper region of kidney, consisting of parallel tubules comprising loops of Henle and collecting ducts.
- Pelvis -- the "drain" of the kidney, which funnels urine from many tubules (collecting ducts) into the ureter. Transitional epithelium marks the beginning of the ureter. Fat and large blood vessels may be found in the pelvis.
- As you look for fine details, keep in mind how all of the details are organized into nephrons.
- In each renal corpuscle, distinguish the glomerulus from Bowman's capsule.
- Try to visualize Bowman's space and glomerular capillaries. Try to visualize (or imagine) three kinds of cells in the glomerulus:
- Look for corpuscles cut in such a way that you can distinguish:
- the vascular pole (where the glomerulus is attached);
- the urinary pole (where the urinary space is drained by the proximal convoluted tubule).
- In the renal cortex, try to distinguish proximal from distal tubules. (Proximal tubules are generally a bit larger in outside diameter, with larger, more eosinophilic cells. And because each proximal convoluted tubules is longer than the associated distal convoluted tubules, proximal tubules appear to be more plentiful in the cortex.)
- In the medulla, distinguish loops of Henle from collecting ducts. (Collecting ducts are lined by pale cuboidal cells with distinct boundaries between cells. Thick segments of the loop of Henle are lined by more eosinophilic cells with indistinct boundaries. Thin segments of the loops are lined by squamous cells with bulging nuclei.)
- Also note (or imagine) renal stroma (especially peritubular capillaries and vasa recta).
- Slide 08, 94 -- bladder and ureter. Note transitional epithelium, smooth muscle, connective tissue.
THURSDAY
Primary objective:Examine the male reproductive tract.
- Slide 52, 100 -- testis. Understand basic tissue organization of this organ. Note columnar epithelium (Sertoli cells) of seminiferous tubules. Try to distinguish different stages in meiosis and sperm maturation. Note Leydig cells in testicular stroma.
In slide 52, the nuclei are stained so faintly that Sertoli cell nuclei, the faintest of the lot, may be extremely difficult to notice. In slide 100, Sertoli cell nuclei are round and located near the base of the epithelium (unlike their in typical human specimens as illustrated in most texts, oval and well above the base of the epithelium).
- Slide 62, 100 -- epididymis. Understand basic tissue organization of this organ. Note pseudostratified columnar epithelium, smooth muscle. Look for sperm cells in the tubular lumen. The slide of opossum epididymis (slide 62) is prepared with a Golgi stain that displays the Golgi apparatus above the nucleus in each epithelial cell.
- Slide 98 -- seminal vesicle. This slide is NOT in good shape. Try to distinguish the region displaying seminal vesicle from the region displaying prostate. The seminal vesicle has the appearance of several large sacs with very convoluted mucosal lining. The prostate is subdivided into very many glandular tubules. In the seminal vesicle, see if you can distinguish in the wall of gland.
- Slide 99 -- prostate. Note irregular shape of glandular epithelium, smooth muscle throughout glandular stroma. Look for prostatic concretions (corpora amylacea) in glandular lumens.
Complete slide list:
01, 02, 03,
04, 05, 06,
07, 08, 09,
10, 11, 12,
13, 14, 15,
16, 17, 18,
19, 20, 21,
22, 23, 24,
25, 26, 27,
28, 29, 30,
31, 32, 33,
34, 35, 36,
37, 38, 39,
40, 41, 42,
43, 44, 45,
46, 47, 48,
49, 50, 51,
52, 53, 54,
55, 56, 57,
58, 59, 60,
61, 62, 63,
64, 65, 66,
67, 68, 69,
70, 71, 72,
73, 74, 75,
76, 77, 78,
79, 80, 81,
82, 83, 84,
85, 86, 87,
88, 89, 90,
91, 92, 93,
94, 95, 96,
97, 98, 99,
100
Comments and questions: dgking@siu.edu
Department of Zoology e-mail: zoology@zoology.siu.edu
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