Summary
The morphology of perivascular and perineuronal cells in the substantia nigra and red nucleus was studied in Nissl, silver carbonate, and electron microscopic preparations.
In light microscopic preparations of the red nucleus and substantia nigra oligodendrocytes and astrocytes are located adjacent to blood vessels and nerve cells. Pericytes are also found adjacent to blood vessels. Scattered perineuronal oligodendrocytes and astrocytes are present in the magnocellular portion of the red nucleus and in the substantia nigra, whereas a distinguishing morphological feature of the parvocellular portion of the red nucleus is the clustering of perineuronal oligodendrocytes around a single neuron.
In the present electron micrographs of the red nucleus and substantia nigra oligodendrocytes are separated from the vascular basement membrane (basal lamina) by astrocyte processes and therefore are not truly perivascular. Pericytes are easily identified by the basement membrane which encompasses their cell bodies and processes.
Characteristic of the neuropil in the red nucleus are astrocytic processes that approximate dendrites. In contrast, astrocytic processes in the substantia nigra rarely contact dendrites which are covered by a mosaic of synaptic endings. A “third type of neuroglial element” is also present in the neuropil of the substantia nigra and the red nucleus.
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This research was supported by N.I.H. Grant No. NB 06925-03 and N.I.H. General Research Grant No. 320002.
The authors would like to express their appreciation to Dr. Clement A. Fox for his advice in the preparation of this manuscript and to Miss Rosemary Carrico for her excellent technical assistance.
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King, J.S., Schwyn, R.C. The fine structure of neuroglial cells and pericytes in the primate red nucleus and substantia nigra. Z. Zellforsch. 106, 309–321 (1970). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00335775
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00335775