Zhou H F. Lee L H C. Lund R D.
Timing and Patterns of Astrocyte Migration from Xenogenic Transplants of the Cortex and Corpus Callosum, Journal of Comparative Neurology 292(2) :320-330, 1990.
Abstract
The timing, pattern, and pathway of astrocyte
migration were investigated in vivo by transplantation of
CD-1 mouse cerebral cortex (E13-14) or corpus callosum (P2-3) into neonatal
rat cortex. A monoclonal antibody specific for a mouse
astrocyte surface antigen (M2) was used to identify the
location of the grafts and the migrated donor astrocytes.
Within the host cortex, astrocytes from cortical grafts
began migration at post-transplantation day (PTD) 7. Over
the next 4 days, the most distant displaced donor cells were found
progressively further away from the grafts, migrating at a rate of about 220
.mu.m/day. After PTD 11, the migration rate for the
farthest displaced donor cells slowed to 25 .mu.m/day, and the cells appeared
to stop at about PTD 16 at a distance of 1,100 .mu.m from the edge of the
graft. Astrocytes had a faster migration
speed in the white matter and covered a longer distance (5 mm) than those in
the gray matter, extending on occasion into the contralateral hemisphere.
The patterns of astrocyte migration
differed depending on local cues around the transplant. Donor
astrocytes that had been implanted into the host cortex
migrated toward the host cortical surface, sometimes in several radial lines.
Astrocytes from grafts, especially callosal grafts, placed
in the subcortical white matter migrated along the host fiber tracts. Many
astrocytes transplanted into the hippocampus formed laminar
patterns close to the hippocampal neuronal layers. These results suggest
that the direction, pattern, and speed of astrocyte
migration are influenced by local substrates in the host
brain.
Return to Astrocyte Migration References