Ependymal Cells
Ependymal Cells - Related Videos
02:56
Live Imaging of Ependymal Cell Ciliary Activity in a Mouse Brain Section
0 Views •
2025
Source: Al Omran, A. J., et al. Live Imaging of the Ependymal Cilia in the Lateral Ventricles of the Mouse Brain. J. Vis. Exp. (2015). This video demonstrates a live-imaging technique using differential interference contrast (DIC) microscopy to observe the beating of ependymal cilia in sagittal mouse brain sections. Ependymal cilia propel cerebrospinal fluid (CSF), and their activity is recorded in brain sections maintained in a nutrient-rich medium and imaged in a climate-controlled chamber.
14:33
The Subventricular Zone En-face: Wholemount Staining and Ependymal Flow
0 Views •
Cited by 199 •
2010
The lateral ventricle walls contain the largest germinal region in the adult mammalian brain. Traditionally, studies on neurogenesis in this region have relied on classical sectioning techniques for histological analysis. Here we present an alternative approach, the wholemount technique, which provides a comprehensive, en-face view of this germinal region.
06:58
Live Imaging of the Ependymal Cilia in the Lateral Ventricles of the Mouse Brain
0 Views •
Cited by 12 •
2015
Using high-resolution differential interference contrast (DIC) microscopy, an ex vivo observation of the beating of motile ependymal cilia located within the mouse brain ventricles is demonstrated by live-imaging. The technique allows a recording of the unique ciliary beating frequency and beating angle as well as their intracellular calcium oscillation pacing properties.
08:48
Stable and Efficient Genetic Modification of Cells in the Adult Mouse V-SVZ for the Analysis of Neural Stem Cell Autonomous and Non-autonomous Effects
0 Views •
Cited by 2 •
2016
Here we describe a procedure based on the use of lentiviral particles for the long-term genetic modification of neural stem cells and/or their adjacent ependymal cells in the adult ventricular-subventricular neurogenic niche which allows the separate analysis of cell autonomous and non-autonomous, niche-dependent effects on neural stem cells.
10:04
Tractable In Vivo Reprogramming of Tumor Cells to Type 1 Conventional Dendritic Cell-like Cells
0 Views •
2025
This protocol describes the in vivo reprogramming of mouse cancer cells into type 1 dendritic-like cells within the tumor microenvironment through enforced expression of the transcription factors PU.1, IRF8, and BATF3.
FAQs
Coordinated beating of apical cilia provides a directional mechanism for circulating CSF along the ventricular system and spinal cord’s central canal. This movement supports distribution of nutrients and movement of waste within the central nervous system, while contributing to pressure regulation. Consequently, ciliary activity is a key biological feature when studying how fluid movement affects neural tissue.
Cell junctions regulate exchange between CSF and surrounding neural tissue, helping determine how these compartments interact across their boundary. This function complements, rather than duplicates, ciliary circulation: cilia move fluid, whereas junctions influence fluid-tissue exchange. Examining both processes gives a more complete picture of how ventricular and central-canal surfaces support neural-tissue conditions.
Modified ependymal cells in the choroid plexus add a CSF-production function to the broader ependymal relationship with the fluid. This distinction matters because other lining cells are emphasized for circulation and exchange, whereas choroid-plexus cells contribute to generating CSF itself. Biology studies can therefore treat these locations as related but functionally distinct parts of the CNS fluid system.
Ependymal cells are relevant to hydrocephalus because their cilia, junctions, and fluid-related roles connect them with CSF circulation, exchange, and pressure regulation. They are also relevant to neuroinflammation because the same interface links neural tissue with CSF. Studying these cells can therefore help connect altered fluid behavior or tissue-fluid interactions with important central nervous system conditions.
Their potential role in adult neural stem-cell biology makes ependymal cells important beyond fluid handling. This research context asks how cells associated with the ventricular system may relate to neural repair, while retaining attention to their established position at the tissue-fluid interface. Findings could help connect ventricular biology with questions about recovery and regeneration in the nervous system.
A useful investigation can organize evidence around three linked functions: coordinated apical cilia for CSF circulation, cell junctions for exchange with neural tissue, and modified choroid-plexus cells for CSF production. It can then relate these functions to nutrient distribution, waste movement, pressure regulation, hydrocephalus, neuroinflammation, neural repair, or adult neural stem-cell biology.