Evidence for three morphological classes of astrocyte in the adult rabbit retina: functional and developmental implications.

Commercially available antibodies to glial fibrillary acidic protein (GFAP) and vimentin were used in conjunction with our own antibodies (3F11, MA1 and 4D6) to label astrocytes in the adult albino rabbit retina. Anti-GFAP labels the entire astrocyte population and shows them to be morphologically diverse. By contrast, the remaining four antibodies label different subpopulations of astrocytes. Comparisons of the shapes and distributions of cells composing these subpopulations led us to distinguish three morphological classes: Class A are predominantly perivascular astrocytes, Class B are territorial and rarely contact vessels or axons, Class C (which seems to contain four subclasses) are astrocytes that are predominantly associated with axons.