1. [The transition zone of the central nervous system-peripheral nervous system of the adult rat; ultrastructural and immunocytochemical studies: a new function of the astroglia?].
- Author
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Ridet JL, Perre J, and Foncin JF
- Subjects
- Animals, Astrocytes ultrastructure, Central Nervous System ultrastructure, Epitopes ultrastructure, Glial Fibrillary Acidic Protein metabolism, Immunohistochemistry, Membrane Proteins metabolism, Neurites metabolism, Neurites ultrastructure, Neuroglia ultrastructure, Peripheral Nerves ultrastructure, Rats, Rats, Inbred Strains, Astrocytes physiology, Central Nervous System physiology, Neuroglia physiology, Peripheral Nerves physiology
- Abstract
At the transition between central nervous system (CNS) and peripheral nervous system (PNS), the CNS compartment forms cone-shaped incursions into the peripheral part of the dorsal root. The ultrastructural study of the CNS-PNS transitional zone shows that this region is particularly rich in astrocyte processes. In an attempt to investigate the possible role of the CNS-PNS interface astrocytes in myelin formation, a photonic microscopy immunocytochemical study has been done with anti-GFAP and anti-MBP sera. The CNS glial expansion shows an important GFAP immunoreactivity with intimate association between astrocyte processes and myelinated axons. This may indicate that the transitional myelin originates from astrocytes. The same region is also MBP-positive. Two explanations are considered: some astrocytes form transitional myelin sheathes and express MBP epitopes, or oligodendrocytes, with cell bodies distant from the CNS-PNS interface, send myelinating cytoplasmic expansions which are not shown by the techniques we used.
- Published
- 1991