Interactions between astroglia and ectopic granule cells in the cerebellar cortex of normal adult rats: a morphological and cytochemical study.

The cytology and organization of astroglial cells associated with ectopic granule cells (EGCs) have been studied in the cerebellar cortex of normal adult rats, using Golgi preparations, immunohistochemistry against the glial fibrillary acidic protein (GFAP) and ultrastructural analysis. Elongated perikarya of EGCs scattered in the molecular layer were usually attached to radial Bergmann fibers, which exhibited a normal morphology. A second configuration of EGCs consisted of intrafissural colonies of ectopic neurons. The molecular layer that surrounded these ectopic colonies showed disorientation of both Bergmann fibers and parallel fibers. Within the ectopic tissue, typical velate astrocytes were commonly observed. They formed homologous associations with EGC perikarya and cerebellar glomeruli. However, a restricted astroglial plasticity was detected in the form of heterologous interactions between astrocytes and Purkinje cell dendrites, including their associated synapses with parallel fibers. In spite of this astroglial plasticity, our results suggest that in the physiological systems of granule cell ectopia studied here, the different specific interactions of Bergmann glia and astrocytes with neurons tend to be conserved.