Testis Tour on OSU Medicine

Testis Tour on OSU Medicine in Second Life is a model of the human testis DrDoug Pennell (Associate Professor of Obstetrics and Gynecology at The Ohio State University in Columbus, OH USA) built for his medical students. You are welcome to take the tour- it is automated and narrated. Important Points 1. The main functional unit of the testis is the seminiferous tubule. 2. Blood vessels and Leydig cells are outside the tubule; developing sperm are inside the tubule. 3. The blood-testis barrier keeps products of the immune system from attacking the developing sperm. 4. This barrier is NOT the basal lamina of the seminiferous tubule. 5. Rather, it is formed by the tight junctions that connect adjacent Sertoli cells. 6. These tight junctions must unzip or dissolve long enough to let spermatogonia pass through as they become primary spermatocytes. 7. Thus, spermatogonia - which are diploid -- are INSIDE the tubule but OUTSIDE the blood-testis barrier. 8. Spermatocytes, spermatids, and mature spermatozoa are INSIDE the blood-testis barrier and are therefore protected from immune attack. Recorded at: http://slurl.com/secondlife/OSU%20Medicine/75/92/301