Cultured epithelioid astrocytes migrate after transplantation into the adult rat brain

A highly purified population of dividing epithelioid astrocytes has been prepared from postnatal rat corpus callosum. These cells were labelled in culture by incorporation of either [3H]thymidine or fluorescent microspheres and transplanted in a fibrin clot into the hippocampi of adult syngeneic rats. Transplanted cells divided in vivo and progressively migrated into the host brain from the site of implantation up to distances of about 1 mm. After a 1-week survival, transplant cells stained strongly for glial fibrillary acidic protein and had the thick sinuous processes characteristic of stellate astrocytes. Artefactual transfer of radiolabel to host cells was ruled out by control experiments in which either the proportion of transplant cells that were radiolabelled was varied or radiolabelled transplant cells were killed prior to implantation. Astrocyte migration over the first days after implantation was determined to occur at a rate of approximately 100 microns per day. Transplant cells moved into both grey and white matter areas of the host brain and over the migratory period were commonly observed to be associated with blood vessels. Some transplant cells were directly juxtaposed against neuronal perikarya and dendrites. Many labelled astrocytes were located in areas that were apparently completely free of damage caused by implantation. These results define a class of mature astrocytic cells that have the ability to migrate through the adult brain. The existence of pathways for cell movement in the adult CNS has implications for the mechanisms of tissue remodelling after injury and transplantation, for regenerative repair of the CNS, and for the dynamics of cell-cell contacts in the normal adult mammalian brain.