SUPPLEMENTARY: 3
Sertoli Cell Diagram

The stratified epithelium which lines the seminiferous tubules consists of spermatogenic cells interspersed between Sertoli cells. The Sertoli cells create a diffusion barrier which prevents the free passage of molecules from the blood capillaries of the interstitial tissue (1) into the seminiferous tubules. The cells are tall, reaching from the basement membrane (2) to the lumen of the tubule (4). The outline of the cells is very complex with many ramifying cytoplasmic extensions forming a meshwork of processes in which the spermatogenic cells are embedded. The Sertoli cells are connected by tight junctions (3) which create a blood-testis barrier, dividing the tubule into two compartments:

  • basal compartment contains spermatogonia and the cells in the earliest stages of meiotic prophase (cells coloured in green)

  • adluminal compartment contains primary and secondary spermatocytes, spermatids undergoing spermiogenesis and spermatozoa (cells coloured in blue).

    Since all nutrients must diffuse through the Sertoli cell cytoplasm, these cells control the formation of a micro-environment within the adluminal compartment and the lumen of the seminiferous tubules for meiotic cells and sperm. A particularly important function of the blood-testis barrier is that it prevents the immunological recognition of genetically unique sperm and the possible formation of antisperm antibodies.

    The functions of Sertoli cells include:


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