Immunohistochemical and biochemical approaches to the development of neuroglia in the CNS, with special reference to cerebellum.

Immunocytochemical methods have in recent years played a more important role in investigations of the development and function of glial cells in the nervous system because of their potential to distinguish between different cell populations. This short review attempts to highlight the value of this approach and summarizes the major cell-type markers currently available. These include, for the astrocyte, GFA protein, S-100 protein, vimentin, αα-enolase and α-2 glycoprotein. For the oligodendrocyte, myelin basic protein, the Wolfgram proteins, 2',3'-cyclic nucleotide 3'-phosphohydrolase, myelin associated glycoprotein, proteolipid protein, galactocerebroside, carbonic anhydrase and glycerol 3-phosphate dehydrogenase and other glial cell markers recognized by monoclonal antibodies are discussed. The application of these techniques to the study of the developing brain (and in particular the rodent cerebellum) are reviewed. It has proved possible to follow the development of distinct populations of astrocytes and oligodendrocytes from a very precocious age to the adult situation, thus providing new insight on the relationship between glial cells and neurons during normal and abnormal histogenesis.