Glutamine synthetase immunoreactivity in two types of mouse brain glial cells

The localization and distribution of glutamine synthetase (GS) in the adult mouse brain were studied by immunohistochemistry. GS immunoreactivity was found in two morphologically distinct types of glial cells apart from Bergmann glia, one asteroid and the other ovoid. The light and electron microscopic features of the GS-positive asteroid and ovoid cells were well consistent with those of astrocytes and oligodendrocytes, respectively. The GS-positive asteroid cells were present in the hippocampus, cerebral cortex, neostriatum, and cerebellar granular layer, where many synapse receptors for excitatory amino acids such as glutamate are densely distributed. Weakly GS-positive asteroid cells were also scattered in the white matter. The GS-positive ovoid cells were present throughout the gray matter regions of the brain except for the hippocampus, and they were the predominant type of GS-positive cells in the thalamus and brainstem gray matter where excitatory amino acid receptors are relatively sparse. No GS-positive ovoid cells were found in the white matter. These results suggest that, in the mouse brain, GS is localized in oligodendrocytes of the gray matter and in astrocytes. These two types of GS-positive glial cells may play different roles in the metabolism of glutamate.