Summary
Electron microscopic and enzyme histochemical investigations were carried out on a group of spongioblastomas and astrocytomas and their tissue cultures. Both neoplastic cell populations are ultrastructurally identical, but show differences in the late stages of cultivation,viz. in the modality of degeneration. The cytoplasm of “spongioblasts” becomes progressively overloaded with filaments, floccular material and fine granular osmiophilic masses, which leads to cell necrosis. These osmiophilic masses correspond to Rosenthal fibers of light microscopy. In some cells, before Rosenthal fibers appear, the granular ground substance is thickened, particularly close to the Golgi apparatus and the ribosomes are increased in number. At times, some mitochondria show an abnormal dense homogeneous matrix. This peculiar cell degeneration seems to be not the consequence of a simple overproduction of filaments, but a manifold cellular disorder akin to a storage dystrophy.
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Gullotta, F., Fliedner, E. Spongioblastomas, astrocytomas and rosenthal fibers. Ultrastructural, tissue culture and enzyme histochemical investigations. Acta Neuropathol 22, 68–78 (1972). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00687551
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00687551