{
    "abstract": "Mammalian epididymal epithelial cells are crucial for sperm maturation. Historically, vacuole-like ultrastructures in epididymal epithelial cells were observed via transmission electron microscopy but were undefined. Here, we utilize volume electron microscopy (vEM) to generate 3D reconstructions of epididymal epithelial cells and identify these vacuoles as intercellular organelle reservoirs (IORs) in the lateral intercellular space (LIS), which contains protein aggregates, autophagosomes, lysosome-related organelles and mitochondrial residues. Immunolabelling of organelle markers such as P62, LC3, LAMP1 and TOMM20 confirm these findings. The IOR size or number varies across four epididymal regions and decreases with age. Rab27a mutant mice exhibit reduced IORs in the caput epididymis and a subfertility phenotype, suggesting the involvement of Rab27a in the formation of IORs. Furthermore, we observe the presence of IORs between intestinal epithelial cells besides epididymis. Amino acid transporters at IOR edges suggest dynamic protein recycling. Our findings reveal that the IOR is an important structure critical for organelle turnover and recycling outside epithelial cells with limited self-degradation capabilities.",
    "authors": [
        {
            "affiliation": "Institute of Special Environmental Medicine and Medical School, Nantong University and Guangzhou Women and Children's Medical Center, GMU-GIBH Joint School of Life Science, Guangzhou Medical University, Guangzhou, PR China.",
            "firstname": "Xia",
            "initials": "X",
            "lastname": "Li"
        },
        {
            "affiliation": "Institute of Special Environmental Medicine and Medical School, Nantong University and Guangzhou Women and Children's Medical Center, GMU-GIBH Joint School of Life Science, Guangzhou Medical University, Guangzhou, PR China.",
            "firstname": "Feng",
            "initials": "F",
            "lastname": "Qiao"
        },
        {
            "affiliation": "School of Brain Science and Brain Medicine and Center of Cryo-Electron Microscopy, Zhejiang University School of Medicine, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, PR China.",
            "firstname": "Jiansheng",
            "initials": "J",
            "lastname": "Guo"
        },
        {
            "affiliation": "Institute of Special Environmental Medicine and Medical School, Nantong University and Guangzhou Women and Children's Medical Center, GMU-GIBH Joint School of Life Science, Guangzhou Medical University, Guangzhou, PR China.",
            "firstname": "Ting",
            "initials": "T",
            "lastname": "Jiang"
        },
        {
            "affiliation": "School of Brain Science and Brain Medicine and Center of Cryo-Electron Microscopy, Zhejiang University School of Medicine, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, PR China.",
            "firstname": "Huifang",
            "initials": "H",
            "lastname": "Lou"
        },
        {
            "affiliation": "Institute of Special Environmental Medicine and Medical School, Nantong University and Guangzhou Women and Children's Medical Center, GMU-GIBH Joint School of Life Science, Guangzhou Medical University, Guangzhou, PR China.",
            "firstname": "Huixia",
            "initials": "H",
            "lastname": "Li"
        },
        {
            "affiliation": "Institute of Special Environmental Medicine and Medical School, Nantong University and Guangzhou Women and Children's Medical Center, GMU-GIBH Joint School of Life Science, Guangzhou Medical University, Guangzhou, PR China.",
            "firstname": "Gangcai",
            "initials": "G",
            "lastname": "Xie"
        },
        {
            "affiliation": "School of Brain Science and Brain Medicine and Center of Cryo-Electron Microscopy, Zhejiang University School of Medicine, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, PR China.",
            "firstname": "Hangjun",
            "initials": "H",
            "lastname": "Wu"
        },
        {
            "affiliation": "Institute of Special Environmental Medicine and Medical School, Nantong University and Guangzhou Women and Children's Medical Center, GMU-GIBH Joint School of Life Science, Guangzhou Medical University, Guangzhou, PR China.",
            "firstname": "Weizhen",
            "initials": "W",
            "lastname": "Wang"
        },
        {
            "affiliation": "Institute of Special Environmental Medicine and Medical School, Nantong University and Guangzhou Women and Children's Medical Center, GMU-GIBH Joint School of Life Science, Guangzhou Medical University, Guangzhou, PR China.",
            "firstname": "Ruoyu",
            "initials": "R",
            "lastname": "Pei"
        },
        {
            "affiliation": "Institute of Special Environmental Medicine and Medical School, Nantong University and Guangzhou Women and Children's Medical Center, GMU-GIBH Joint School of Life Science, Guangzhou Medical University, Guangzhou, PR China.",
            "firstname": "Sha",
            "initials": "S",
            "lastname": "Liu"
        },
        {
            "affiliation": "Institute of Special Environmental Medicine and Medical School, Nantong University and Guangzhou Women and Children's Medical Center, GMU-GIBH Joint School of Life Science, Guangzhou Medical University, Guangzhou, PR China.",
            "firstname": "Mei",
            "initials": "M",
            "lastname": "Ye"
        },
        {
            "affiliation": "Institute of Special Environmental Medicine and Medical School, Nantong University and Guangzhou Women and Children's Medical Center, GMU-GIBH Joint School of Life Science, Guangzhou Medical University, Guangzhou, PR China.",
            "firstname": "Jin",
            "initials": "J",
            "lastname": "Li"
        },
        {
            "affiliation": "Institute of Special Environmental Medicine and Medical School, Nantong University and Guangzhou Women and Children's Medical Center, GMU-GIBH Joint School of Life Science, Guangzhou Medical University, Guangzhou, PR China.",
            "firstname": "Shiqin",
            "initials": "S",
            "lastname": "Huang"
        },
        {
            "affiliation": "Institute of Special Environmental Medicine and Medical School, Nantong University and Guangzhou Women and Children's Medical Center, GMU-GIBH Joint School of Life Science, Guangzhou Medical University, Guangzhou, PR China.",
            "firstname": "Mengya",
            "initials": "M",
            "lastname": "Zhang"
        },
        {
            "affiliation": "Institute of Special Environmental Medicine and Medical School, Nantong University and Guangzhou Women and Children's Medical Center, GMU-GIBH Joint School of Life Science, Guangzhou Medical University, Guangzhou, PR China.",
            "firstname": "Chaoye",
            "initials": "C",
            "lastname": "Ma"
        },
        {
            "affiliation": "Institute of Special Environmental Medicine and Medical School, Nantong University and Guangzhou Women and Children's Medical Center, GMU-GIBH Joint School of Life Science, Guangzhou Medical University, Guangzhou, PR China.",
            "firstname": "Yiwen",
            "initials": "Y",
            "lastname": "Huang"
        },
        {
            "affiliation": "Institute of Special Environmental Medicine and Medical School, Nantong University and Guangzhou Women and Children's Medical Center, GMU-GIBH Joint School of Life Science, Guangzhou Medical University, Guangzhou, PR China.",
            "firstname": "Shushu",
            "initials": "S",
            "lastname": "Xu"
        },
        {
            "affiliation": "Department of Laboratory Medicine, Peking University Shenzhen Hospital, No. 1120 Lianhua Road, Futian District, Shenzhen, PR China.",
            "firstname": "Xiaofeng",
            "initials": "X",
            "lastname": "Li"
        },
        {
            "affiliation": "Department of Reproductive Endocrinology, Women's Hospital, Zhejiang University School of Medicine, Hangzhou, Zhejiang, PR China.",
            "firstname": "Xiao",
            "initials": "X",
            "lastname": "Sun"
        },
        {
            "affiliation": "Institute of Special Environmental Medicine and Medical School, Nantong University and Guangzhou Women and Children's Medical Center, GMU-GIBH Joint School of Life Science, Guangzhou Medical University, Guangzhou, PR China.",
            "firstname": "Jun",
            "initials": "J",
            "lastname": "Yu"
        },
        {
            "affiliation": "School of Biomedical Sciences, Faculty of Medicine, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, PR China.",
            "firstname": "Kin Lam",
            "initials": "KL",
            "lastname": "Fok"
        },
        {
            "affiliation": "School of Brain Science and Brain Medicine and Center of Cryo-Electron Microscopy, Zhejiang University School of Medicine, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, PR China. duanshumin@zju.edu.cn.",
            "firstname": "Shumin",
            "initials": "S",
            "lastname": "Duan"
        },
        {
            "affiliation": "Institute of Special Environmental Medicine and Medical School, Nantong University and Guangzhou Women and Children's Medical Center, GMU-GIBH Joint School of Life Science, Guangzhou Medical University, Guangzhou, PR China. chenhao@gzhmu.edu.cn.\nKey Laboratory of Reproductive Health Diseases Research and Translation of Ministry of Education & Key Laboratory of Human Reproductive Medicine and Genetic Research of Hainan Province & Hainan Provincial Clinical Research Center for Thalassemia, The First Affiliated Hospital of Hainan Medical University, Hainan Medical University, Haikou, Hainan, China. chenhao@gzhmu.edu.cn.",
            "firstname": "Hao",
            "initials": "H",
            "lastname": "Chen"
        }
    ],
    "conclusions": null,
    "copyrights": "\u00a9 2025. The Author(s).",
    "doi": "10.1038/s41467-025-56807-9",
    "journal": "Nature communications",
    "keywords": [],
    "methods": null,
    "publication_date": "2025-02-16",
    "pubmed_id": "39955273\n31033221\n34816626\n23397627\n17589783\n31044554\n30060123\n30130578\n27307387\n34001862\n32855272\n26612782\n15878890\n26868824\n34616045\n34616042\n36690758\n18226515\n23510681\n7755993\n19966785\n25882854\n32661310\n11266472\n32669714\n36302887\n28596378\n28399394\n33053285\n30154567\n34967891\n21460629\n34355730\n33087875\n33580401\n36122245\n36917659\n32276321\n29580970\n22068051\n25988755\n12231511\n17664848\n34483204\n22231629\n37231020\n33095380\n32641688\n10679357\n21983562\n25065759\n37945830\n19527879\n18983444\n635571\n423989\n31371608\n1785783\n7679970\n22332116\n7711320\n24670872\n36640347\n35394837\n33007132\n37409324\n37076630\n31178118",
    "results": null,
    "title": "In situ architecture of the intercellular organelle reservoir between epididymal epithelial cells by volume electron microscopy.",
    "xml": "<Element 'PubmedArticle' at 0x7885060f6430>"
}