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A preliminary examination of astrocyte morphology across multiple human forebrain nuclei
Author(s) -
Krilowicz Beverly L.,
Nienhuis Robert,
Thannickal Thomas,
Siegel Jerome
Publication year - 2008
Publication title -
the faseb journal
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.709
H-Index - 277
eISSN - 1530-6860
pISSN - 0892-6638
DOI - 10.1096/fasebj.22.1_supplement.975.2
Subject(s) - astrocyte , forebrain , neuroscience , thalamus , biology , basal forebrain , nucleus , hypothalamus , basal ganglia , central nervous system
Multiple physiological roles for astrocytes have emerged over the last two decades, though little attention has focused on astrocyte morphology. In this study we address this omission and supply data that describe differences in astrocyte populations across 14 human forebrain nuclei, including sites in the thalamus, hypothalamus and basal ganglia. 40 um coronal sections from the human forebrain (n=4 brains) were stained with antibody to GFAP and sections from 2 of the brains were also counterstained with H+E. Stereoinvestigator software was used to randomly sample sites within each nucleus using accepted stereological techniques. Individual brain and forebrain nuclei had significant effects on both mean astrocyte size and density (P<0.001), as well as the distributions of astrocyte size and density (P<0.001). Our results suggest that human astrocyte morphology differs significantly across the 14 forebrain nuclei examined in this study. These results suggest that astrocytes exhibit regional anatomical differences that may correlate with differences in their physiological roles associated with established differences in neuronal physiology in these nuclei. (CSULA Sabbatical Leave Award to BLK.)