Primary cilia in the basal cells of equine epididymis : a serendipitous finding

Occurrence of a solitary cilium was an unexpected discovery while studying the ultrastructure of epididymal epithelium in equidae. Primary cilia were detected in epididymal basal cells of all individuals of the equines studied - horses, donkey and mules - independently from age and tract of the duct, emerging from the basal cell surface and insinuating into the intercellular spaces. More rarely solitary cilia occurred also at the luminal surface of the principal cells. The ciliary apparatus was constituted by a structurally typical basal body continuous with the finger-like ciliary shaft extending from the cell surface, and an adjacent centriole oriented at right angles to the basal body. The cilium was structured as the typical primary, non-motile cilia found in many mammalian cells, having a 9+0 microtubular pattern. The basal diplosome was randomly associated with other cellular organelles including the Golgi complex, the endoplasmic reticulum, the microfilament network, the plasma membrane, vesicles and pits. Primary ciliogenesis is a new and unexpected finding in the epididymal epithelium. A monitoring role of luminal factors and extracellular liquids might be attributed to this organelle, likely acting as chemical receptor of the luminal environment, thus modulating the epithelial function by a cell-to-cell crosstalk involving the entire epithelium.