Figure 4.

Protoplasmic astrocytes are larger and more complicated than the rodent counterpart. A, Typical mouse protoplasmic astrocyte. GFAP, White. Scale bar, 20 μm. B, Typical human protoplasmic astrocyte in the same scale. Scale bar, 20 μm. C, D, Human protoplasmic astrocytes are 2.55-fold larger and have 10-fold more main GFAP processes than mouse astrocytes (human, n = 50 cells from 7 patients; mouse, n = 65 cells from 6 mice; mean ± SEM; *p < 0.005, t test). E, Mouse protoplasmic astrocyte diolistically labeled with DiI (white) and sytox (blue) revealing the full structure of the astrocyte including its numerous fine processes. Scale bar, 20 μm. F, Human astrocyte diolistically labeled demonstrates the highly complicated network of fine process that defines the human protoplasmic astrocyte. Scale bar, 20 μm. Inset, Human protoplasmic astrocyte diolistically labeled as well as immunolabeled for GFAP (green) demonstrating colocalization. Scale bar, 20 μm.