Macroglial cell

Miller RH, David S, Patel R, Abney ER, Raff MC 1985 A quantitative immunohistochemical study of macroglial cell development in the rat optic nerve in vivo evidence for two distinct astrocyte lineages. Dev Biol 111 35-41... 

Baslow M. H., Suckow R. F., Berg M. J., Marks N., Saito M., and Bhakoo K. K. (2001). Differential expression of camosine, homocamosine and N-acetyl-L-histidine hydrolytic activities in cultured rat macroglial cells. J. Mol. Neurosci. 17 351-359. 

Macroglial cells are of ectodermal origin and include the astrocytes, ependymal cells, oligodendrocytes, and Schwann cells. Astrocytes appear to be primarily supportive in function and under microscopic examination can be seen to envelope axons and dendrites and buttress against the adventitial layer of blood vessels. In the gray matter of brain, which is composed primarily of perikarya, they have a clear protoplasmic appearance, whereas in the white matter, which is composed primarily of neuronal processes, they appear fibrous. Ependymal cells line the ventricles of the brain, are ciliated. 

Involvement of the microglia may be lacking (Diezel 1957) or else result in the formation of large hypertrophic cells in response to destruction of brain tissue (Jervis 1959, Gonatas et al. 1963). The macroglial elements show hypertrophy... 

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