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Intermediate filament immunohistochemistry of astroglial cells in the leopard gecko, Eublepharis macularius

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Abstract

The distribution of intermediate filament molecular markers, glial fibrillary acidic protein (GFAP) and vimentin, has been studied in the central nervous system (CNS) of the adult leopard gecko, Eublepharis macularius. This immunohistochemical study points out the presence of different astroglial cell types. The main pattern is constituted by ependymal radial glia, which have their cell bodies located in the ependymal layer throughout the brain ventricular system. Radial glia proper or radial astrocytes show their cell bodies displaced from the ependymal layer into a periependymal zone and are observed only in the spinal cord. Star-shaped astrocytes are scarce. They are detected in the ventral and lateral regions of the diencephalon and mesencephalon, in the superficial layer of the optic tectum, in the ventral medulla oblongata, and in the ventral and lateral spinal cord. In the different regions of the CNS, the staining intensity appears not to be identical even in the same cellular type. The results reported in the present study show an heterogeneous feature of the astroglial pattern in E. macularius.

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Acknowledgements

This work was supported by grants from the Italian Ministero dell’Istruzione, dell’Università e della Ricerca.

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  1. Department of Biology, University of Bologna, Via Selmi 3, 40126, Bologna, Italy

    Maurizio Lazzari & Valeria Franceschini

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  1. Maurizio Lazzari
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  2. Valeria Franceschini
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Correspondence to Maurizio Lazzari.

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Lazzari, M., Franceschini, V. Intermediate filament immunohistochemistry of astroglial cells in the leopard gecko, Eublepharis macularius . Anat Embryol 210, 275–286 (2005). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00429-005-0049-x

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