Considerations on the ependyma of the encephalic ventricles of Tropidonotus natrix, Alligator mississipiensis and Testudo graeca

Ependymal and neuronal specializations in the lateral ventricle of the Pekin duck, Anas platyrhynchos

The lateral ventricles of the Pekin duck, Anas platyrhynchos, display characteristic ependymal and hypendymal specializations. Adjacent to the nucleus accumbens and the basal pole of the lateral septum the ventricular surface shows a highly folded pattern either with protrusions into the ventricular lumen or deep invaginations into the brain tissue. These medial and basal ependymal folds are found exclusively in a circumscribed region extending over a range of 600 micron in the rostrocaudal direction. Ependymal folds occurring in the lateral wall of the ventricles were traced up to the level of the interventricular foramen. Numerous capillaries are observed in the subependymal layer of these folds. By means of immunocytochemistry with antibodies against chicken vasoactive intestinal polypeptide (VIP) an aggregation of classical cerebrospinal fluid-contacting neurons is shown in the region of the nucleus accumbens and the lateral septum. These neurons are closely related to the ependymal folds. Additional VIP-immunoreactive neurons are scattered in deeper layers of the lateral septum and the nucleus accumbens. The latter are richly innervated by VIP-immunoreactive nerve fibers. The results of the present study are discussed with particular reference to the hypothesis of Kuenzel and van Tienhoven (1982) that ependymal specializations demonstrated in the lateral ventricles of the domestic fowl might represent a new circumventricular organ ("lateral septal organ").

The distribution, activity, and function of the cilia in the frog brain

1. The distribution, activity, and function of the cilia in the brain was studied using in vitro preparations of the frog choroid plexuses and ependyma.2. Scanning electron microscopy revealed that twenty to forty cilia, about 20 mum long, project from the cells of the choroidal epithelium and ependyma into the ventricular system of the brain.3. These cilia beat at a constant frequency which ranged from 5 to 20 c/s. Ciliary activity was enhanced by ATP, cyclic AMP, theophylline, and acetylcholine, and was depressed by DNP, IAA, Ni(2+), La(3+), and Co(2+).4. Ciliary motion produced a flow of c.s.f. over the surface of the cells lining the ventricles, and in the choroid plexus this flow reduced the effective thickness of the unstirred layer adjacent to the epithelium by about 100 mum.5. These results are discussed in relation to the factors that control the frequency of ciliary beating, and the role of the cilia in the circulation of the c.s.f.