Neuroglial arrangements in the olfactory glomeruli of the hedgehog

The olfactory glomeruli represent morphological and functional units in which olfactory information is processed in specialized synaptic arrangements established between the central processes of sensory neurons, whose cell bodies are located in the olfactory epithelium, and the terminal (intraglomerular) portions of the dendrites of periglomerular, tufted, and mitral cells. The olfactory glomeruli are surrounded by distinctive glial formations in which the peripheral glia interacts with the central glia. We have studied the morphology and organization of neuroglial cells in the layer of olfactory nerves and the glomerular layer of the olfactory bulb in the insectivorous hedgehog (Erinaceus europaeus) with the electron microscope, Golgi method, and immunohistochemistry by using antibodies to glial fibrillary acidic protein (GFAP) and "rip," a monoclonal antibody that stains oligodendrocytes and their processes in the rat (Friedman et al.: Glia 2:380-390, '89). The peripheral glia is represented by a special category of cells that are closely related to astrocytes and known as sheathing cells. They accompany olfactory axons to their entrance in the glomeruli where they interact with the central glia, represented by astrocytes and oligodendrocytes. The sheathing cells typically display indented nuclei and protoplasmic expansions forming laminar processes wrapping several axons together. Astrocytes surrounding the glomerular neuropil belong to the velate type. They display numerous sheet-like processes enveloping dendritic segments and periglomerular cell bodies. Oligodendrocytes were found surrounding the glomeruli and at the interstices separating different glomeruli. Myelinated dendritic segments and cell bodies were found surrounding the olfactory glomeruli. These myelin coverings probably derive from oligodendrocytes. Together with the astrocytic lamellar expansions, they provide a rigid structural support that contributes to the segregation of group of different cells while remaining relatively isolated from other influences at the periphery of the glomeruli.