Migration of grafted rat astrocytes: dependence on source/target organ

Neonatal rat cortical astrocytes migrate extensively after transplantation into the brains of adult hosts. However, the effects of cues provided by different sources of donor astrocytes and by different target sites of implantation on this migration is unknown. In order to investigate the significance of regional influences on glial migration, we established primary cultures of astrocytes derived from 1-3 day old rat cerebral cortex, hippocampus, and hypothalamus. After in vitro labelling with either Fast Blue or fluorescein-labelled latex beads, these astrocytes were inoculated into different target regions of the adult rat brain by stereotaxic injection with a Hamilton syringe. Astrocytes implanted into the cerebral cortex migrated extensively throughout the adult brain regardless of their donor source. These implanted cells were intimately associated with the ventricular wall, glial limitans, vasculature, and fiber bundles. Astrocytes homografted into the hippocampus and the hypothalamus migrated primarily within and around the respective homotopic target organs. Migration of astrocytes derived from cerebral cortex was also limited when injections were made into these two regions. In these latter cases, migration appeared to be less guided by other cellular or regional cues than was migration after implantation into the cerebral cortex. These results suggest that the migration patterns of astrocytes grafted after tissue culture are more dependent on the target implantation site than on the donor organ.