Cell junctions in the subcommissural organ of the rabbit as revealed by use of ruthenium red

The subcommissural organ

The subcommissural organ (SCO) is a phylogenetically ancient and conserved structure. During ontogeny, it is one of the first brain structures to differentiate. In many species, including the human, it reaches its full development during embryonic life. The SCO is a glandular structure formed by ependymal and hypendymal cells highly specialized in the secretion of proteins. It is located at the entrance of the aqueduct of Sylvius. The ependymal cells secrete into the ventricle core-glycosylated proteins of high molecular mass. The bulk of this secretion is formed by glycoproteins that would derive from two different precursors of 540 and 320 kDa and that, upon release into the ventricle aggregate, form a threadlike structure known as Reissner's fiber (RF). By addition of newly released glycoproteins to its proximal end, RF grows caudally and extends along the aqueduct, fourth ventricle, and the whole length of the central canal of the spinal cord. RF material continuously arrives at the dilated caudal end of the central canal, known as the terminal ventricle or ampulla. When reaching the ampulla, the RF material undergoes chemical modifications, disaggregates, and then escapes through openings in the dorsal wall of the ampulla to finally reach local blood vessels. The SCO also appears to secrete a cerebrospinal fluid (CSF)-soluble material that is different from the RF material that circulates in the ventricular and subarachnoidal CSF. Cell processes of the ependymal and hypendymal cells, containing a secretory material, terminate at the subarachnoidal space and on the very special blood capillaries supplying the SCO. The SCO is sequestered within a double-barrier system, a blood-brain barrier, and a CSF-SCO barrier. The function of the SCO is unknown. Some evidence suggests that the SCO may participate in different processes such as the clearance of certain compounds from the CSF, the circulation of CSF, and morphogenetic mechanisms.

Ultrastructure of complex carbohydrates of rodent and monkey ependymal glycocalyx and meninges

The surfaces of the brain offer metabolic and mechanical support to the underlying parenchyma. Mouse, rat, and monkey brains were fixed by immersion in a glutaraldehyde fixative or glutaraldehyde with cetylpyridinium chloride, followed by block staining for complex carbohydrates using alcian blue with OsO4 postfixation, or OsO4 postfixative solution containing ruthenium red, or alcian blue and then ruthenium red-OsO4 treatment. The ependyma in these species had a glycocalyx extending into the ventricular fluid as a finely filamentous network when stained with alcian blue or with alcian blue followed by ruthenium red-OsO4. Mice in the middle age range had stained material in this glycocalyx resembling the hyaluronic acid reported in the ocular vitreous body. Similar material was seen in the arachnoidal space of these mice and in the inner connective tissue matrix of the dura mater. Both the mouse and monkey had a cell-free zone, termed the inner dural matrix zone, between the thick fibrous dura and its innermost cellular layer. This zone contained filamentous and globular alcian blue-stained material. The complex carbohydrates of the mouse ependymal glycocalyx and inner dural matrix zone underwent changes developmentally. Aged rats were injected intraventricularly with latex beads, which, along with extravasated erythrocytes, were seen to adhere to the ependymal glycocalyx. A similar adhesion of erythrocytes was seen in the mouse and monkey ependymal glycocalyx and in the filamentous network of the mouse and monkey inner dural matrix zone. The ependymal glycocalyx, formed in part of complex carbohydrates, is much thicker than previously demonstrated. Some activities related to the ependymal lining of the ventricles, including the movement of cells or particles, the penetration of metabolites or serum-protein fractions (e.g., immunoglobulins), and cell-surface hydration, probably depend in part on complex carbohydrates that provide a sticky, electrically negative, hydrophilic environment. The complex carbohydrates in the inner dural matrix zone might provide mechanical buffering. Complex carbohydrates in the arachnoidal space may help to maintain a loose tissue that needs not only to be hydrated, but also to be open enough to provide cerebrospinal fluid circulation.

Intercellular junctions between specialized ependymal cells in the subcommissural organ of the rat

The permeability of intercellular junctions in specialized ependymal cells in the rat subcommissural organ (SCO) has been studied ultrastructurally by freeze-fracturing and tracer experiments with horseradish peroxidase (HRP). In addition to normal smooth membrane, areas which could be classified as a leaky tight junction are found within the ependymal junctional region. This consists of only one or two relatively continuous strands but with interruptions in the apical portion. Some strands are perpendicular to the apical membrane surface and often form hairpin-like bends in the basal portion of the junction. The junctional region also shows areas with no strands but only a rippled membrane structure which may be equivalent to very close appositions without fusion of adjacent ependymal cell membranes. The relative proportions of normal smooth membrane, strands and rippled structure in the junctional region is approximately 3:4:6 including two parts overlapping of the strands and rippled structure. Intraventricularly infused HRP passes through many junctions but is occasionally stopped, leaving unstained intercellular spaces of various lengths between membrane fusions of tight junctions. Even when it is stopped, the intercellular space below the junction is densely stained by the enzyme. Orthogonal arrays of intramembrane particles are found to be distributed on the basal and lateral cell membranes below the junctional region in the SCO ependyma.

Fine structural studies on ependymal paracellular and capillary transcellular permeability in the subcommissural organ of the guinea pig

Morphological investigations on the permeability of intercellular junctions between ependymal cells and between capillary endothelial cells in the subcommissural organ (SCO) of the guinea pig have been carried out using freeze-fracturing and tracer experiments with horseradish peroxidase (HRP). The ependymal junction reveals a moderately developed network of tight junctional strands surrounding the tall ependymal cell. The apical portion of this junctional network tends to form nearly complete strands, whereas the basal portion usually shows irregular, fragmented strands often arranged in hairpin-like structures. The passage of intraventricularly infused HRP is blocked, leaving unstained areas, at the level of membrane fusions. At the same time the lateral intercellular space below the junction is densely stained, probably due to invasion from the basal side through adjacent ordinary ependymal junctions. The SCO capillary endothelium shows a high distribution density of pinocytotic vesicles. Vesicular transport of intravascularly injected HRP is observed, but no HRP penetration occurs through the endothelial junction. The active participation of vesicles in tracer movement is shown in preparations fixed before administration of HRP. Extravasation of this tracer is indicated to some degree in the SCO capillary, but permeability here appears to be comparable to that of ordinary brain capillaries. Accordingly, the SCO ependymal tight junction seems to form an effective barrier not to blood plasma or similar materials but to apically secreted substances, preventing them from spreading back into SCO intercellular spaces.

Immunohistochemical localization of catechol-O-methyltransferase in circumventricular organs of the rat: potential variations in the blood-brain barrier to native catechols

Catechol-O-methyltransferase (COMT) was localized in the organum vasculosum of the lamina terminals, subfornical organ, subcommissural organ and area postrema of rat brain using an indirect immunofluorescence technique. COMT immunofluorescence was apparent in neuroglia within the organum vasculosum and was most intense in the ependyma between this structure and the optic recess of the third ventricle. In both the subfornical organ and the area postrema, COMT was localized in a neuroglial network, but was noticeably absent in the ependymal layer. COMT immunofluorescence in the ependyma of the subcommissural organ was continuous with the more intense immunofluorescence of the cuboidal ependyma of the third ventricle. Each of the circumventricular organs studied, with the exception of the subcommissural organ, lies outside the blood-brain barrier. However, the unique pattern of COMT immunofluorescence in the area postrema and the subfornical organ suggests that these two structures, of all circumventricular organs, are most likely to permit the entry of peripherally circulating catechols to the cerebrospinal fluid.

The tight epithelium of the Mongolian gerbil subcommissural organ as revealed by freeze-fracturing

Examination of neonatal Mongolian gerbil subcommissural organ (SCO) by freeze-fracture electron microscopy reveals that the epithelial layer (the ependyma) possesses distinctive and very complex tight junctions which connect the apical portions of adjacent ependymal cells. The tight junction network of the Mongolian gerbil is more extensive neonatally than in the adult, and is in general, more conspicuous than in other animal species. The consistent finding of such very complex tight junctions at the interface between the C.S.F. and the SCO suggests that the SCO ependyma, at least in neonatal Monglian gerbils, might function as a tight epithelium with an ability to maintain steep solute gradients and high potential differences. The sealing-off of the SCO towards the C.S.F. (the C.S.F.--SCO barrier) and the effective blood-brain barrier in the organ (the blood-SCO barrier) might well be of functional significance, perhaps in relation to mechanisms involved in the control and/or detection of the stability of the internal environment of the brain.