The development of ependyma in the human fetal brain: an immunohistological and electron microscopic study

Gould, Stephen J.; Howard, S.; Papadaki, L

doi:10.1016/0165-3806(90)90207-f

Cited by 77 publications

(41 citation statements)

References 30 publications

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“…5). Expression of GFAP by tanycytes was consistent with previous reports [8,11,12,14]. Radial fibres, columnar arrangements of fibres and GFAP-positive cell columns were particularly clearly identified within the cavum septum pellucidum around this period ( fig.…”

Section: The Morphological Varieties Of Cells Expressing Gfap In the supporting

confidence: 91%

Distribution and Morphology of GFAP-Positive Astrocytes in the Human Fetal Brain at Second Trimester

2003

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Background: Various studies have shown that a close physical and functional relationship exists between astrocytes and microglia during development. The maturation of astrocytes can be followed by their specific expression of glial fibrillary acidic protein (GFAP). Although there have been several reports on the expression of GFAP in the developing brain, these are mainly descriptive and have not defined clearly the regional distribution patterns of these cells during fetal development. Aim: This study set out to analyse the regional distribution and morphology of GFAP-expressing astrocytes during the latter half of the second trimester (19–23 gestational weeks) within five normal fetal brains, with a view towards comparing the findings with the microglial distribution and differentiation previously recorded throughout the same period. Results: A clear account of the morphology and regional distribution of GFAP-positive astrocytes is presented. Differentiating astrocytes (including radial glia and their processes) were found in the germinal layers, corpus callosum and cavum septum pellucidum, within neural tracts and surrounding the basal ganglia – areas known to be populated by microglia during the same period. The differentiation of astrocytes was predominant within the subplate and intermediate zone towards the end of the second trimester. Importantly, the differentiation of astrocytes within these regions followed a similar spatially interspersed pattern as reported for fetal microglia. However, astrocytes appeared to differentiate at a later stage within these regions than described for microglia. This will require further investigations for confirmation. Differentiated astrocytes were also found to associate with cortical blood vessels in a region-specific manner during the second trimester. Conclusions: These observations indicate that the differentiation and spatial distribution of astrocytes parallels those of microglia during the second trimester. It remains to be seen whether factors released by microglia can directly influence the differentiation of astrocytes in situ during development.

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Section: The Morphological Varieties Of Cells Expressing Gfap In the supporting

confidence: 91%

Distribution and Morphology of GFAP-Positive Astrocytes in the Human Fetal Brain at Second Trimester

2003

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“…Although the morphology of some of the ependymal cells from primary dissection was reminiscent of that of radial glial cells, it remains to be determined whether some of these ependymal cells are differentiating into true radial glial cells in vitro or whether the adhesive substrates used in the present study are permissive for an elongated, bipolar morphology (especially in FGF2). Furthermore, because only a small number of ependymal cells demonstrated this characteristic morphology, these cells may correspond to the small percentage of tanycytes that are present within the ependymal layer (Bruni et al, 1985;Gould et al, 1990;Doetsch et al, 1997). Single subependymal neural stem cells generated spheres of undifferentiated cells in FGF2 or EGF but not in the absence of exogenous growth factors, such as the primary ependymal spheres.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Adult Mammalian Forebrain Ependymal and Subependymal Cells Demonstrate Proliferative Potential, but only Subependymal Cells Have Neural Stem Cell Characteristics

et al. 1999

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The adult derivatives of the embryonic forebrain germinal zones consist of two morphologically distinct cell layers surrounding the lateral ventricles: the ependyma and the subependyma. Cell cycle analyses have revealed that at least two proliferating populations exist in this region, one that is constitutively proliferating and one that is relatively quiescent and thought to include the endogenous adult neural stem cells. Earlier studies demonstrated that specific dissection of the region surrounding the lateral ventricles was necessary for the in vitro isolation of multipotent, self-renewing neural stem cells. However, in these studies, the ependymal layer was not physically separated from the subependymal layer to identify the specific adult laminar localization of the neural stem cells around the lateral ventricles. To determine which cellular compartment in the adult forebrain contained the neural stem cells, we isolated and cultured the ependyma separately from the subependyma and tested for the presence of neural stem cells using the in vitro neurosphere assay. We demonstrate that the ependymal cells can proliferate in vitro to form sphere-like structures. However, the ependymal cells generating spheres do not have the ability to self-renew (proliferate to form secondary spheres after dissociation) nor to produce neurons, but rather only seem to generate glial fibrillary acidic protein-positive ependymal cells when plated under differentiation conditions in culture. On the other hand, a subpopulation of subependymal cells do possess the selfrenewing and multipotential characteristics of neural stem cells. Therefore, the adult forebrain neural stem cell resides within the subependymal compartment.

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“…Human ependymal cells have been studied by immunohistological methods (Gould and Howard, 1987;Gould et al, 1990), and by EM (Hirano and Matsui, 1975;Gould et al, 1990). Previous studies of the ependymal layer in adult humans have focused on cells at this interface and are always described as the lining of the ventricular cavity (Roessmann et al, 1980;Gould et al, 1990).…”

Section: Displaced Ependymal Cellsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Cellular composition and cytoarchitecture of the adult human subventricular zone: A niche of neural stem cells

et al. 2005

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The lateral wall of the lateral ventricle in the human brain contains neural stem cells throughout adult life. We conducted a cytoarchitectural and ultrastructural study in complete postmortem brains (n = 7) and in postmortem (n = 42) and intraoperative tissue (n = 43) samples of the lateral walls of the human lateral ventricles. With varying thickness and cell densities, four layers were observed throughout the lateral ventricular wall: a monolayer of ependymal cells (Layer I), a hypocellular gap (Layer II), a ribbon of cells (Layer III) composed of astrocytes, and a transitional zone (Layer IV) into the brain parenchyma. Unlike rodents and nonhuman primates, adult human glial fibrillary acidic protein (GFAP)+ subventricular zone (SVZ) astrocytes are separated from the ependyma by the hypocellular gap. Some astrocytes as well as a few GFAP-cells in Layer II in the SVZ of the anterior horn and the body of the lateral ventricle appear to proliferate based on proliferating cell nuclear antigen (PCNA) and Ki67 staining. However, compared to rodents, the adult human SVZ appears to be devoid of chain migration or large numbers of newly formed young neurons. It was only in the anterior SVZ that we found examples of elongated Tuj1+ cells with migratory morphology. We provide ultrastructural criteria to identify the different cells types in the human SVZ including three distinct types of astrocytes and a group of displaced ependymal cells between Layers II and III. Ultrastructural analysis of this layer revealed a remarkable network of astrocytic and ependymal processes. This work provides a basic description of the organization of the adult human SVZ.

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The development of ependyma in the human fetal brain: an immunohistological and electron microscopic study

Cited by 77 publications

References 30 publications

Distribution and Morphology of GFAP-Positive Astrocytes in the Human Fetal Brain at Second Trimester

Distribution and Morphology of GFAP-Positive Astrocytes in the Human Fetal Brain at Second Trimester

Adult Mammalian Forebrain Ependymal and Subependymal Cells Demonstrate Proliferative Potential, but only Subependymal Cells Have Neural Stem Cell Characteristics

Cellular composition and cytoarchitecture of the adult human subventricular zone: A niche of neural stem cells

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