Summary
High voltage electron microscopy of Golgi preparations vividly displays the veil-like appendages on certain protoplasmic astrocytes. These appendages are extremely thin sheets of cytoplasm or plasmalemmal films expanding from the larger processes of the cells. Because of the prominence of this structural feature, reminiscent of the appearance of astrocytes in tissue culture, we designate these cells as velate astrocytes, in order to distinguish them from those protoplasmic astrocytes that lack such appendages. In the cerebellar cortex, velate astrocytes are represented by two types of neuroglial cell: (1) the Golgi epithelial cell and (2) the common astrocyte of the granular layer. The first type not only gives rise to the Bergmann fibers, but also envelops the Purkinje cell and all of its processes. The second type divides up the granular layer into gross compartments containing individual glomeruli and single or clustered granule cells. The probable significance of this compartmentation is discussed.
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Supported in part by USPHS research grant NS03659 and training grant NS05591 from the National Institute of Neurological Diseases and Stroke, and by NIH contract 70-4136.
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Chan-Palay, V., Palay, S.L. The form of velate astrocytes in the cerebellar cortex of monkey and rat: High voltage electron microscopy of rapid Golgi preparations. Z. Anat. Entwickl. Gesch. 138, 1–19 (1972). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00519921
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00519921