Figure 3

Distribution of p97/VCP in different regions of the rat epididymis during postnatal development. p97/VCP immunopositivity is detected in the CT, CS and CA of the epididymis at days 5 (A, B, C), 15 (D, E, F), 30 (G, H, I) and 60 (J, K, L). p97/VCP expression is seen in the epithelial cells (EC) of the CT, CS and CA epididymis at day 5 (A, B, C). No significant staining is observed in the negative controls (at the corner of panels A-L). p97/VCP is localised both in the basal (BS) and principal (PC) cells of the epididymis at days 15, 30 and 60 (D-L). Of note, p97/VCP is also expressed in the apical layer of the cytoplasm in all epididymal regions at days 30 and 60 (G-L). Immunopositivity for p97/VCP is detected both in the principal cells and basal epithelial cells, while clear cells (C) show no immunoreactivity at day 60 (J-L). Spermatozoa (Sp) are weakly immunopositive for p97/VCP. CT: caput, CS: corpus, CA: cauda. Scale bars: 25 μm (A-C); scale bars: 50 μm (D-L).