Structural and cytochemical features of perineuronal glial nets in the rat brain.

Perineuronal nets formed by glial cells could be visualized in different regions of the rat brain with Golgi methods. Although mostly their cellular origin was not detectable, in some cases the nets were found to originate from glial cell processes possessing characteristic features of microglia. Using the colloidal iron hydroxide binding method and carbohydrate binding lectins the perineuronal nets were shown to be enriched with anionic carbohydrate components. Some functional aspects of these structures have been discussed.