Occurrence of a third type of secretory cell in the acinus of the rat submandibular gland.

A new, third type of secretory cell was found in the acini of the submandibular gland in rat. In paraffin sections stained with hematoxylin-eosin or reacted with periodic acid-Schiff, acini containing the third type of secretory cells were found as a mass of darkly stained secretory endpieces at the periphery of the lobule. In semi-thin sections stained with toluidine blue, these cells showed numerous dense secretory granules in their cytoplasm. Some acini consisted entirely of these cells, whereas other acini consisted of an admixture of such cells and typical seromucous cells. Acini containing the third type of secretory cell tended to form clusters. Electron microscopically, the cells had well-developed rough endoplasmic reticulum and Golgi apparatus. The secretory granules showed a wide range of variation in substructure, even within the same cell. Well-developed intercellular interdigitation and intercellular canaliculi also were observed between adjacent third type of secretory cells. Although little is known about the biological significance of these cells and the properties of their secretory granules, the present study shows that the rat submandibular gland possesses three types of secretory cells in their secretory endpieces.