Abstract
To compare rat and human glial development, we examined the cellular composition of human fetal brain in short-term cultures and fresh cell suspensions from fetal ages ranging from 7 to 16 weeks, utilizing the cell type-specific markers which define glial subsets in rats. Here we report that unlike the early rat central nervous system (CNS), 7–10 week human fetal brain contains mostly astrocytes that can be characterized as type II rather than type I. Type I astrocytes become more prevalent in 16-week gestational age human brain. Although cells morphologically and immunocytochemically similar to the rat 02-A cell are found in human fetal brain and spinal cord, these cells were not induced to express galactocerebroside in serum-free media and did not have vimentin-containing intermediate filaments as do rat 02-A cells. These results suggest that functional differences may exist between rat type I and type II astrocytes and phenotypically similar cells found in humans.
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