Summary
Using 3H-thymidine autoradiography and electron microscopy the authors studies the differentiation of the ependymal cells and glioblasts in the embryonic spinal cord of the chick.
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1.
Ependymal cells are differentiated from the matrix cells at 8 days of incubation. Signs of differentiation are increase in number of basal bodies (blepharoblasts), and appearance of immature cilia and rough-surfaced endoplasmic reticulum in the apical cytoplasm.
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2.
After 8 days of incubation remaining matrix cells lose the potency to produce neuroblasts and change into glioblasts. They lie beneath the immature ependymal layer, i.e., subependymal layer in sensu stricto. The fine structure of the immature glioblast is fairly similar to that of the matrix cell; characteristic are a small nucleus and numerous aggregates of free ribosomes throughout the cytoplasm. Some glioblasts migrate through the mantle layer toward the periphery and reach the neuropil region. At this stage the fine structure of this migrating glioblast is not remarkably different from that of glioblasts in the subependymal layer.
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Fujita, H., Fujita, S. Electron microscopic studies on the differentiation of the ependymal cells and the glioblast in the spinal cord of domestic fowl. Zeitschrift für Zellforschung 64, 262–272 (1964). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00342215
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00342215