Somatic and germinal cells' interrelationship in the course of seminiferous tubule maturation in man.

Certain successive phases of seminiferous tubule maturation were observed in a transsection of a Leydig cell adenoma-bearing testis of a boy with precocious puberty. Massively accumulated Leydig cells may stimulate the maturation of Sertoli cells, as indicated by progressive replacement of Sertoli cell precursors by mature Sertoli cells at a distance closer to the adenoma. On the other hand, tubules less advanced in maturation contained a higher number of somatic cells than those more advanced in maturation. Leydig-cell-dependent maturation of Sertoli cells may be in competition with Certoli cell multiplication, or numerous undifferentiated somatic cells may undergo a natural elimination in the course of tubular maturation. An inverse relation between the number of Sertoli cell precursors and the number of meiotic spermatocytes suggests that quantitative reduction of Sertoli cell precursors may be important for the intratubular milieu necessary for the onset of the first meiosis in man.