Watanabe T, Raff M C
Department of Biology, University College London, UK.
Nature. 1988 Apr 28;332(6167):834-7. doi: 10.1038/332834a0.
The retina in most mammals contains two types of macroglial cells--Müller cells, which span the entire thickness of the retina, and astrocytes, which are mainly confined to the nerve fibre layer. Whereas Müller cells are diffusely distributed in all vertebrate retinae, the presence and distribution of retinal astrocytes correlate with the presence and distribution of retinal blood vessels: retinae that are avascular contain no astrocytes; those that are diffusely vascularized contain diffusely distributed astrocytes; and those that are vascularized in a restricted region contain astrocytes only in the vascularized region. This striking correlation between vascularization and the presence of astrocytes led Stone and Dreher to postulate that retinal astrocytes are immigrants that enter the retina with its vasculature, although others have suggested that they derive from Müller cells. Here we provide strong evidence that astrocytes in the diffusely vascularized rat retina are immigrants from the optic nerve.
大多数哺乳动物的视网膜包含两种类型的大胶质细胞——缪勒细胞，其贯穿视网膜的整个厚度；以及星形胶质细胞，主要局限于神经纤维层。缪勒细胞广泛分布于所有脊椎动物的视网膜中，而视网膜星形胶质细胞的存在和分布与视网膜血管的存在和分布相关：无血管的视网膜不含星形胶质细胞；广泛血管化的视网膜含有分散分布的星形胶质细胞；而在受限区域血管化的视网膜仅在血管化区域含有星形胶质细胞。血管化与星形胶质细胞存在之间的这种显著相关性促使斯通和德雷尔推测，视网膜星形胶质细胞是随着血管系统进入视网膜的移民，尽管其他人认为它们源自缪勒细胞。在这里，我们提供了有力证据，表明广泛血管化的大鼠视网膜中的星形胶质细胞是来自视神经的移民。
