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Developmental appearance, antigenic profile, and proliferation of glial cells of the human embryonic spinal cord: An immunocytochemical study using dissociated cultured cells
Author(s) -
Aloisi Francesca,
Giampaolo Adele,
Russo Giovanni,
Peschle Cesare,
Levi Giulio
Publication year - 1992
Publication title -
glia
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 2.954
H-Index - 164
eISSN - 1098-1136
pISSN - 0894-1491
DOI - 10.1002/glia.440050303
Subject(s) - biology , embryonic stem cell , spinal cord , immunocytochemistry , antigen , microbiology and biotechnology , neuroscience , neuroglia , embryogenesis , anatomy , central nervous system , embryo , immunology , genetics , gene , endocrinology
We have investigated the time of appearance of the earliest differentiating glial cell types of human spinal cord using a panel of antigenic markers to identify them in cultures from 6‐ to 9‐week‐old human embryos. Immunolabeling performed at 14 h in vitro with the O4 mAb, an early oligodendrocyte marker, showed the presence of oligodendrocytes during the 7th week of age. At 8 weeks only a few of the O4 + cells expressed galactocerebroside (GalC), a marker of more differentiated oligodendrocytes. All the O4 + and GalC + cells were vimentin + and some of the GalC + cells were A2B5 + , GD3 + and SSEA‐1 + . During the first week in vitro many of the O4 + cells exhibiting a more immature, bi‐ or tri‐polar morphology incorporated [ 3 H]thymidine into their nuclei. Cells expressing the astrocyte‐specific marker GFAP could be first observed at 8 weeks; almost all of these GFAP + cells, which should correspond to radial glia on the basis of the current literature, were vimentin + , A2B5 + , GD3 + , and SSEA‐1 + . At 2 days in vitro incorporation of [ 3 H]thymidine could be shown in a small fraction of these cells. The finding that radial glia and oligodendrocytes expressed similar antigenic features and the additional observation that a small, but consistent fraction of the cells were simultaneously labeled by O4 and anti‐GFAP antibodies support the hypothesis that, in the human spinal cord, radial glial cells can give rise to both oligodendrocytes and astrocytes; in this respect, radial glial cells may be similar to the A2B5 + , GD3 + , vimentin + bipotential glial progenitors previously identified in cultures from developing rat CNS, which also express A2B5, GD3, and vimentin.