Structural variation and interactions among astrocytes of the rostral migratory stream and olfactory bulb of the adult rabbit. I. Light microscopic study

- Amphomorphic cells of the rostral migratory stream have neuron-astrocyte phenotype.
- Amphomorphic cells have four distinct sets of processes.
- Cell processes of amphomorpic cell bear spatial distribution.
- Field-processes of adjacent amphomorphic cells overlap with each other.
- Amphomorphic cells might correspond to stages of adult-born neurons.

The organization of the adult rabbit rostral migratory stream (RMS) was studied utilizing the rapid-Golgi technique and aniline stains. The RMS consists of a bi-layered, concentric structure bounding the olfactory ventricle. The inner hypercellular layer contains numerous small- to medium-sized cells and is encased by the stratum lucidum (SL), a layer of moderate to low cell density. The most frequent cell in the SL, here termed an amphomorphic cell (AC), has a mixed astrocyte-neuron phenotype. Although each AC exhibits four sets of processes or domains, variation in the complexity of these domains justified dividing them into six subclasses that might correspond to successive stages of differentiation described earlier in rodents.

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