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Sertoli and germ cells were closely associated with each other, with very small intercellular spaces positioned between the two. However, in FORKO mice, the seminiferous epithelium showed large dilated spaces surrounding nearby germ cells (Figs. 5b and 6). The basal Sertoli cell cytoplasm contacted the basement membrane and displayed various organelles such as lysosomes, mitochondria, endoplasmic reticulum (ER), and the Golgi apparatus, embedded in a finely flocculent ground substance (Figs. 5b and 6). However, large dilated spaces not connected to basal areas of Sertoli cell cytoplasm, due to the plane of section, were often observed in mid and apical regions of the epithelium (Fig. 5b). The fact that these dilated spaces were delimited by a plasma membrane and contained organelles indicated that they were territories of cytoplasm. Indeed, in appropriate planes of section, the large, dilated membrane-bound spaces were confluent with the intact basal areas of Sertoli cell cytoplasm (Fig. 6). It was thus concluded that the large, dilated spaces corresponded to extensive dilations of the Sertoli cell cytoplasm. In contrast, the cytoplasm of the neighboring spermatocytes or early round spermatids was not disrupted, and on no occasion did it ever appear dilated (Figs. 5b and 6). In the intact basal areas of the Sertoli cell cytoplasm, the Sertoli-Sertoli blood testis barrier of FORKO mice appeared to be intact. As in wild-type mice (Fig. 5a), bundles of filaments and ER cisternae closely approximated the expansive areas of tight junctions between the plasma membranes of adjacent Sertoli cells (Figs. 5b and 6).