Jessen K R, Mirsky R
Nature. 1980 Aug 14;286(5774):736-7. doi: 10.1038/286736a0.
The complex nervous networks found throughout the mammalian gut--the enteric nervous system--are histologically, ultrastructurally, and, to some extent, functionally--similar to the central nervous system. The glial cells of the small enteric ganglia are generally classified as Schwann or satellite cells, since they are found in the peripheral nervous system, possess nuclei which ultrastructurally resemble those of Schwann cells and are derived from the neural crest. However, it has been argued that these cells resemble astrocytes of the central nervous system with respect to gross and fine structure, and their relationship with the enteric neurones and their processes. In immunohistochemical studies of these cells, both in frozen sections of gut wall and in tissue culture preparations of the enteric plexuses, we found evidence that the enteric glial cells are rich in glial fibrillary acidic protein (GFAP), a protein associated with the 100 A glial intermediate filaments, and hitherto believed to be specific to astrocytes of the central nervous system only.
遍布哺乳动物肠道的复杂神经网络——肠神经系统——在组织学、超微结构以及一定程度的功能上与中枢神经系统相似。小肠肠神经节的神经胶质细胞通常被归类为施万细胞或卫星细胞，因为它们存在于外周神经系统中，具有超微结构上类似于施万细胞的细胞核，并且起源于神经嵴。然而，有人认为这些细胞在大体和精细结构以及它们与肠神经元及其突起的关系方面类似于中枢神经系统的星形胶质细胞。在对这些细胞的免疫组织化学研究中，无论是在肠壁冰冻切片还是在肠神经丛的组织培养制剂中，我们都发现证据表明肠神经胶质细胞富含胶质纤维酸性蛋白（GFAP），这种蛋白质与100埃的胶质中间丝相关，并且迄今为止一直被认为仅对中枢神经系统的星形胶质细胞具有特异性。
