Radial glial cell and OPCs can be generated from radial glial cells "in vitro", more evidence is yet needed to conclude whether this process also occurs in the developing brain. Recently, radial glia that exclusively generate upper-layer cortical neurons have also been discovered. Since upper cortical layers have expanded greatly in recent evolution, and are associated with higher-level information processing and thinking, radial glia have been implicated as important mediators of brain evolution. The best characterized and first widely accepted function of radial glia is their role as scaffolds for neuronal migration in the cerebral and cerebellar cortexes. This role can be easily
Radial glial cell period of interest in radial glia, little additional information was learned about these cells until the electron microscope and immunohistochemistry became available some 60 years later. Radial glial cell Radial glial cells are bipolar-shaped cells that span the width of the cortex in the developing vertebrate central nervous system (CNS) and serve as primary progenitor cells capable of generating neurons, astrocytes, and oligodendrocytes. Their cell bodies (somata) reside in the embryonic ventricular zone, which lies next to the developing ventricular system. During development, newborn neurons use radial glia as scaffolds, traveling along the radial glial fibers in order to reach