Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

The shape and distribution of astrocytes in the retina of the adult rabbit

  • Published:
Cell and Tissue Research Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Summary

Astrocytes stained by antibodies to glial fibrillary acidic protein (GFAP) were examined in whole-mount preparations of retinae from adult rabbits and found to be restricted to the medullary rays. Astroglial cells exhibited a variety of shapes that varied between two extreme morphologies. One extreme was an astrocyte that possessed a few sturdy primary processes as well as finer processes and was strongly GFAP positive. The other extreme was an astroglial cell that displayed a star-shaped appearance; its perikarya gave rise to a few thin, radially oriented processes, which were rather weakly GFAP positive. The majority of astroglial processes were aligned with the ganglioncell axons, but some of their processes were in contact with capillaries. It has been proposed that astrocytes are specifically associated with ganglion-cell axons. Their restriction to the medullary rays in the retina of the rabbit suggests, however, that their physiological role is also concerned with the vascular system.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  • Allcutt D, Berry M, Sievers J (1984) A quantitative comparison of the reactions of retinal ganglion cells to optic nerve crush in neonatal and adult mice. Dev Brain Res 16:219–230

    Google Scholar 

  • Baker BJ, Perry VH (1985) The effect of ganglion cell depletion on the development of astrocytes and the blood vessel distribution in the retina. Neurosci Lett [Suppl] 21:68

    Google Scholar 

  • Berliner ML (1931) Cytologic studies on the retina. I. Normal coexistence of oligodendroglia and myelinated nerve fibers. Arch Ophthalmol 6:740–751

    Google Scholar 

  • Bignami A, Dahl D (1979) The radial glia of Müller in the rat retina and their response to injury. An immunofluorescence study with antibodies to the glial fibrillary acidic (GFA) protein. Exp Eye Res 28:63–69

    Google Scholar 

  • Bignami A, Eng LF, Dahl D, Uyeda CT (1972) Localization of the glial fibrillary acidic protein in astrocytes by immunofluorescence. Brain Res 43:429–435

    Google Scholar 

  • Bignami A, Dahl D, Rueger DC (1980) Glial fibrillary acidic (GFA) protein in normal neural cells and in pathological conditions. In: Fedoroff S, Hertz L (eds) Advances in Cellular Neurobiology, Vol 1. Academic Press, New York, pp 285–310

    Google Scholar 

  • Björklund H, Bignami A, Dahl D (1985) Immunohistochemical demonstration of glial fibrillary acidic protein in normal rat Müller glia and retinal astrocytes. Neurosci Lett 54:363–368

    Google Scholar 

  • Blunt MJ, Wendell-Smith CP, Baldwin F (1965) Glia-nerve fibre relationships in mammalian optic nerve. J Anat 99:1–11

    Google Scholar 

  • Boycott BB, Hopkins JM (1981) Microglia in the retina of monkey and other mammals; its distinction from other types of glia and horizontal cells. Neuroscience 6:679–688

    Google Scholar 

  • Boycott BB, Hopkins JM (1984) A neurofibrillar method stains solitary (primary) cilia in the mammalian retina: Their distribution and age-related changes. J Cell Sci 66:95–118

    Google Scholar 

  • Braak E, Drenckhahn D, Unsicker K, Gröschel-Stewart U, Dahl D (1978) Distribution of myosin and glial fibrillary acidic protein (GFA protein) in rat spinal cord and in human frontal cortex as revealed by immunofluorescence microscopy. Cell Tissue Res 191:493–499

    Google Scholar 

  • Bromberg JS, Schachner M (1978) Localization of nervous system antigens in retina by immunohistology. Invest Ophthalmol Vis Sci 17:920–924

    Google Scholar 

  • Büssow H (1980) The astrocytes in the retina and optic nerve head of mammals: A special glial for the ganglion cell axons. Cell Tissue Res 206:367–378

    Google Scholar 

  • Büssow H (1983) Die regionäre Verteilung der Neuroglia in der Retina des Kaninchens. Verh Anat Ges 77:733–734

    Google Scholar 

  • Cone W, MacMillan JA (1932) The optic nerve and papilla. In: Penfield W (ed) Cytology and Cellular Pathology of the Nervous System. Vol II. Hoeber, New York, pp 837–901

    Google Scholar 

  • Cunha-Vaz JG, Shakib M, Ashton N (1966) Studies on the permeability of the blood-retinal barrier. I. On the existence, development, and site of the blood-retinal barrier. Br J Ophthalmol 50:441–453

    Google Scholar 

  • Davis FA (1929) The anatomy and histology of the eye and orbit of the rabbit. Trans Am Ophthalmol Soc 27:401–441

    Google Scholar 

  • Debus E, Weber K, Osborn M (1983) Monoclonal antibodies specific for glial fibrillary acidic (GFA) protein and for each of the neurofilament triplet polypeptides. Differentiation 25:193–203

    Google Scholar 

  • Dräger UC, Edwards DL, Barnstable CJ (1984) Antibodies against filamentous components in discrete cell types of the mouse retina. J Neurosci 4:2025–2042

    Google Scholar 

  • Dixon RG, Eng LF (1981) Glial fibrillary acidic protein in the retina of the developing albino rat: An immunoperoxidase study of paraffin-embedded tissue. J Comp Neurol 195:305–321

    Google Scholar 

  • Eisenfeld AJ, Bunt-Milam AH, Sarthy PV (1984) Müller cell expression of glial fibrillary acidic protein after genetic and experimental photoreceptor degeneration in the rat retina. Invest Ophthalmol Vis Sci 25:1321–1328

    Google Scholar 

  • Eng LF, Vanderhaeghen JJ, Bignami A, Gerstl B (1971) An acidic protein isolated from fibrous astrocytes. Brain Res 28:351–354

    Google Scholar 

  • Ikui H, Uga S, Kohno T (1976) Electron microscopic study on astrocytes in the human retina using ruthenium red. Ophthalmic Res 8:100–110

    Google Scholar 

  • Karschin A, Wässle H, Schnitzer J (1986a) Shape and distribution of astrocytes in the cat retina. Invest Ophthalmol Vis Sci 27:828–831

    Google Scholar 

  • Karschin A, Wässle H, Schnitzer J (1986b) Immunocytochemical studies on astroglia of the cat retina under normal and pathological conditions. J Comp Neurol (in press)

  • Kondo H, Takahashi H, Takahashi Y (1984) Immunohistochemical study of S-100 protein in the postnatal development of Müller cells and astrocytes in the rat retina. Cell Tissue Res 238:503–508

    Google Scholar 

  • Kumpulainen T, Dahl D, Korhonen LK, Nyström SHM (1983) Immunolabeling of carbonic anhydrase isoenzyme C and glial fibrillary acidic protein in paraffin-embedded tissue sections of human brain and retina. J Histochem Cytochem 31:879–886

    Google Scholar 

  • Lessell S, Kuwabara T (1963) Retinal neuroglia. Arch Ophthalmol 70:671–678

    Google Scholar 

  • Marchesani O (1926) Die Morphologie der Glia im Nervus opticus und in der Retina, dargestellt nach den neuesten Untersuchungsmethoden und Untersuchungsergebnissen. Graefes Arch Clin Exp Ophthalmol 117:575–605

    Google Scholar 

  • Massa PT, Mugnaini E (1982) Cell junctions and intramembrane particles of astrocytes and oligodendrocytes: a freeze-fracture study. Neuroscience 7:523–538

    Google Scholar 

  • McLean IW, Nakane PK (1974) Periodate-lysine-paraformaldehyde fixative a new fixative for immunoelectron microscopy. J Histochem Cytochem 22:1077–1083

    Google Scholar 

  • Michaelson IC (1954) Retinal circulation in man and animals. Charles C Thomas, Springfield Illinois

    Google Scholar 

  • Müller H (1851) Zur Histologie der Netzhaut. Z Wiss Zool 3:324–237

    Google Scholar 

  • Narang HK, Wisniewski HM (1977) The sequence of myelination in the epiretinal portion of the optic nerve in the rabbit. Neuropathol Appl Neurobiol 3:15–27

    Google Scholar 

  • Ogden TE (1978) Nerve fiber layer astrocytes of the primate retina: morphology, distribution, and density. Invest Ophthalmol Vis Sci 17:499–510

    Google Scholar 

  • Oyster CW, Takahashi ES, Hurst DC (1981) Density, soma size, and regional distribution of rabbit retinal ganglion cells. J Neurosci 1:1331–1346

    Google Scholar 

  • Peters A, Palay SL, Webster HdeF (1976) The fine structure of the nervous system: the neurons and supporting cells. WB Saunders Comp, Toronto

    Google Scholar 

  • Polyak S (1957) The vertebrate visual system. The University of Chicago Press, London

    Google Scholar 

  • Provis JM (1979) The distribution and size of ganglion cells in the retina of pigmented rabbit: a quantitative analysis. J Comp Neurol 185:121–138

    Google Scholar 

  • Raff MC, Abney ER, Cohen J, Lindsay R, Noble M (1983) Two types of astrocytes in cultures of developing rat white matter: differences in morphology, surface gangliosides, and growth characteristics. J Neurosci 3:1289–1300

    Google Scholar 

  • Raine CS (1984) On the association between perinodal astrocyte processes and the node of Ranvier in the central nervous system. J Neurocytol 13:21–27

    Google Scholar 

  • Ramon y Cajal S (1972 tattranslation) The Structure of the Retina. Charles C Thomas, Springfield Illinois

    Google Scholar 

  • Rasmussen K-E (1972) A morphometric study of Müller cell cytoplasm in the rat retina. J Ultrastruct Res 39:413–429

    Google Scholar 

  • Schachner M, Sommer I, Lagenaur C, Schnitzer J, Berg GJ (1983) Antigenic markers of glia and glial subclasses. In: Pfeiffer S (ed) Neuroscience approached through cell culture. Vol II. CRC Press, Inc, Boca Raton, Florida, pp 115–139

    Google Scholar 

  • Schnitzer J (1985) Distribution and immunoreactivity of glia in the retina of the rabbit. J Comp Neurol 240:128–142

    Google Scholar 

  • Shaw G, Weber K (1983) The structure and development of the rat retina: An immunofluorescence microscopical study using antibodies specific for intermediate filament proteins. Eur J Cell Biol 33:95–104

    Google Scholar 

  • Sternberger LA (1979) Immunocytochemistry, 2nd ed. John Wiley and Sons, Inc. New York

    Google Scholar 

  • Tauchi M, Masland RH (1984) The shape and arrangement of the cholinergic neurons in the rabbit retina. Proc R Soc Lond [Biol] 223:101–119

    Google Scholar 

  • Vaney DI (1980) A quantitative comparison between the ganglion cell populations and axonal outflows of the visual streak and periphery of the rabbit retina. J Comp Neurol 189:215–233

    Google Scholar 

  • Vaney DI, Hughes A (1976) The rabbit optic nerve: fibre diameter spectrum, fibre count, and comparison with a retinal ganglion cell count. J Comp Neurol 170:241–252

    Google Scholar 

  • Voigt T (1986) Cholinergic amacrine cells in the rat retina. J Comp Neurol 248:19–35

    Google Scholar 

  • Vrabec F (1970) Microglia in the monkey and rabbit retina. J Neuropathol Exp Neurol 29:217–224

    Google Scholar 

  • Wässle H, Levick WR, Cleland BG (1975) The distribution of the alpha type of ganglion cells in the cat's retina. J Comp Neurol 159:419–437

    Google Scholar 

  • Waxman SG, Black JA (1984) Freeze-fracture ultrastructure of the perinodal astrocyte and associated glial junctions. Brain Res 308:77–87

    Google Scholar 

  • Wolter JR (1957) Perivascular glia of the blood vessels of the human retina. Am J Ophthalmol 44:766–773

    Google Scholar 

  • Wolter JR (1961) Silver carbonate techniques for the demonstration of ocular histology. In: Smelser GK (ed) The structure of the eye. Academic Press, New York, pp 117–138

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Neuroanatomische Abteilung, Max-Planck-Institut für Hirnforschung, Frankfurt am Main, FRG

    Jutta Schnitzer & Andreas Karschin

Authors
  1. Jutta Schnitzer
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Andreas Karschin
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Schnitzer, J., Karschin, A. The shape and distribution of astrocytes in the retina of the adult rabbit. Cell Tissue Res. 246, 91–102 (1986). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00219004

Download citation

  • Accepted:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00219004

Key words

Search

Navigation