User:Laura.j.ball1/sandbox

This is my sandbox.

History
PTM cells were first observed in 1901, when Claudius Regaud made a detailed study of the histology and physiology of the seminiferous tubules in rats. He described the peritubular myoid cells as a single layer of flattened cells, which enclose the seminiferous tubules, and called them ‘’modified connective tissue cells’’.

In 1958, Yves Clermont made a further investigation of the cells by electron microscopy. He found that these cells have a cytological resemblance to smooth muscle cells – they contain actin filaments, have invaginations at the cell surface and their organelles are located in the centre of the cell. He also suggested that these cells are responsible for the tubular contraction and referred to them as ‘’interlamellar cells’’.

Subsequently, in 1967, Michael Ross studied the fine structure of these cells in mice and proved that the smooth muscle-like cells are contractile. He called them ‘’peritubular contractile cells’’. In 1969, Don Wayne Fawcett et al. termed these cells ‘’peritubular myoid cells’’.

Etymology
As PTM cells became better characterized, the associated nomenclature underwent a series of changes.

In very early literature these cells may be referred to as ‘modified connective tissue cells’ or ‘interlamellar cells’. Subsequent experiments resulted in renaming these cells to better reflect their contractile nature. The term ‘peritubular contractile cells’ was first used in 1967.

In 1969, Don Fawcett labelled these cells as ‘peritubular myoid cells’. ‘Peritubular’ refers to their anatomical location: adjacent to the seminiferous tubule. ‘Myoid’ stems from the Greek ‘myo’ (/ˈmʌɪəʊ/), which means relating to muscle. (Peritubular myoid cells resemble smooth muscle cells under an electron microscope).