Ependyma

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Ependyma.
Hematoxylin-stained section

The ependyma (from the Greek: outer garment) is the name given to the cell layer that lines the inner fluid spaces of the central nervous system, i.e. the ventricular system and the central canal. The ependyma separates the cerebrospinal fluid, the liquor cerebrospinalis , from the actual cranial nerve tissue.

histology

Ependymal cells belong to the group of glial cells , which have a functional meaning for the actual nerve cells . The epithelium of the choroid plexus is also formed from specialized ependymal cells.

Histologically, it is a single-layer, flat to highly prismatic (especially in the area of ​​the third cerebral ventricle) occupied cell row, which carries kinocilia and microvilli . The ependymal cells are connected to one another by zonulae adhaerentes .

Diseases

Inflammation of this cell layer is called ependymitis . It can occur in hydrocephalus or in infectious diseases such as toxoplasmosis and syphilis .

Tumors originating from the ependyma are called ependymomas . Glycoproteins ( ependymins ) isolated from the ependyma are associated with the consolidation of long-term memory .

Individual evidence

  1. Werner Linß, Jochen Fanghänel : Histology: cytology, general histology, microscopic anatomy . Walter de Gruyter, 1998, ISBN 978-3-11-014032-3 , p. 92.