Spinal tanycytes in the adult rat: a correlative Golgi gold-toning study

In Golgi impregnated transverse sections through the cervical spinal cord of the 7-12-week-old adult rat, numerous tanycytes were observed radiating from the ependyma into the gray matter that surrounds the central canal. The tail processes of these tanycytes terminated as foot processes in association with blood vessels. Spinal tanycytes were classified into ependymal (E) and subependymal (S) types on the basis of the shape and position of the soma. The soma of the E tanycyte was shaped as a column and was entirely located within the ependyma. In contrast, the soma of the S tanycyte was flask shaped, with the widest portion of the flask located subependymally and the elongated portion extending through the ependyma ultimately reaching the luminal surface. Selected Golgi impregnated sections were gold toned and deimpregnated for direct correlative analysis at the ultrastructural level. Gold-toned tanycytes contained the fine clusters of gold particles underlying the plasma membrane of the cell body and coarse clusters of gold particles throughout the tail and foot processes. The apical surface of tanycytes was characterized by numerous microvilli and large cytoplasmic protrusions that evaginated from the apical surface into the lumen of the central canal. At the luminal surface, adjacent tanycytes were joined laterally by junctional complexes with punctate tight junctions and zonulae adhaerentes associated with fibrils and microtubules. In contrast, gap junctions, hemidesmosomes, and puncta adhaerentia were found between adjacent tail processes of tanycytes. The foot processes interdigitated with one another and abutted the basal lamina around the perivascular space of blood vessels. The basal lamina was continuous around the lateral walls of foot processes and filled the spaces between membranous infoldings of the lateral walls. These basal membrane labyrinths were continuous with the basal lamina of the blood vessel and may provide an extensive surface relation between the perivascular space and the neighboring extracellular compartment. The findings of the present study support the contention that tanycytes may modify the composition of substances moving between the perivascular and extracellular spaces.