DIE GLANDULA MYOMETRALIS IM UTERUS DER MAUS

Abstract

In the uterine wall of the mouse, at the beginning of the 2nd half of gestation, an agglomeration of cells originating from the decidua basalis forms the myometrial gland. The cells of this gland penetrate into the circular muscle of the uterine horn. They separate the muscle fibers, creating a gap in the muscle layer and dispersing the muscle fibers between the glandular cells. It is concluded that the dissociation of the muscle layer is a function of the myometrial gland the cells of which separate the muscle fibers by holocrine secretion, thus creating appropriate room for the growing fetus. The degenerating glandular cells are expelled to the outside of the muscle layer through the created breach. After the partus the circular muscle recloses; at the site of the insertion of the mesometrium the cells form the placental scar which stays there for a long time during the postnatal period.