The ultrastructure of astroglia of the corpus callosum during ontogenesis

An Ultrastructural study of morphological events occurring in the astroglia of the corpus callosum during postembryonal ontogenesis has been undertaken. The results of investigation have shown that in the rat corpus callosum, as early as 1 day postnatal, there may be distinguished two different types of glial cells, which during further maturation develop into protoplasmatic and fibrillar astrocytes. From the observations made it would appear that maturation of the astroglia is a continuous process and no sharp morphological borderlines can be drawn between the astrocytoblast and the astrocyte. However, it has been found that maturation of astrocytes in the rat corpus callosum is completed at the age of between 28 and 40 days postnatal.