[Radioautographic demonstration of the methods of incorporation of tritiated leucine into germ cells of the testis incubated in a modified Rose chamber].

The influence of the blood-testis barrier on the synthetic capabilities of male germ cells in the mouse as investigated by quantitative radioautography in aggregates of seminiferous tubules incubated in a modified Rose chamber, in the presence of tritiated leucine. In the seminiferous tubule, a distribution gradient of radioactivity could be seen : radioactivity decreased from the periphery towards the lumen. Labelling intensity was approximately equivalent in type B spermatogonia and pachytene primary spermatocytes but was only one third as heavy in spermatids (steps 4-5). These results which confirm prior observations carried out in both animal and germ cells isolated from the seminiferous epithelium by differential sedimentation velocity indicate that the blood-testis barrier has no significant effect on the capacity for synthesis peculiar to each germ-cell population.