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Journal of Neuroscience, Vol 3, 2206-2218, Copyright © 1983 by Society for Neuroscience
Astrocyte-like glia in the peripheral nervous system: an immunohistochemical study of enteric glia
KR Jessen and R Mirsky
The similarities between the enteric nervous system of the gut and the
central nervous system (CNS), both of which function as complex integrative
nervous networks, include striking ultrastructural similarities between the
glia of the enteric nervous system and the astrocytic glia of the CNS. In
this paper we have determined whether this anatomical resemblance also
extends to the molecular level by examining the enteric glial cells to see
whether they express several surface and intracellular molecules which are
highly restricted to glia and to astrocytes in particular. Indirect
immunofluorescence was used to visualize the antigens in frozen sections of
gut wall and in whole mount, tissue culture, and freshly dissected
preparations of myenteric and submucous plexuses from rats of various ages.
It was found that enteric glial cells expressed the intracellular proteins
glial fibrillary acidic protein, glutamine synthetase, and vimentin both in
situ and in culture. The surface antigen Ran-2 was expressed in situ but
not in culture, and the surface antigen Ran-1 was expressed in culture but
not in situ. Cultured enteric glial cells did not express fibronectin in
significant quantity, nor did they make galactocerebroside. From these
results we conclude that the adult phenotype of enteric glia in situ
closely resembles that of astrocytes, while in culture some of their cell
surface features change, reverting to those seen during development.
Because these cells possess distinctive molecular features and numerically
form one of the major populations of peripheral glia, it is appropriate to
classify them as a third distinctive category of peripheral glial cells, in
addition to satellite and Schwann cells. The molecular similarities between
these cells and astrocytes, in addition to their anatomical resemblance,
suggest that a further study of enteric glia will provide new insights into
the role of glia in integrative nervous tissues.
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