Ennio Pannese – författare

During the second half of the 20th century, the introduction of a variety of new techniques greatly expanded our knowledge of the structure of nerve and neuroglial cells and of the organization of the nervous system at the cellular level. This new information has, however, generally been scattered throughout the literature, making it difficult for investigators to gain an overall vision of the discipline. The author has marshalled these scattered data to provide a systematic overview of the field placed within a historical context. He has correlated the major new findings with the classical notions of light microscopy and has integrated them with elements of biochemistry and cell physiology. After the publication of the first edition, the introduction of new microscopies and especially the growth of molecular biology have greatly expanded our knowledge, in particular on the intercellular communication in the nervous system and on the roles of neuroglial cells. These achievements have made a second edition of the book necessary. The fully revised and updated text, together with unique high-quality illustrations of structures of the central and peripheral nervous system, ensure that this new edition will be invaluable for neuroscientists, particularly those involved in cellular neuropathology, neurochemistry, neurophysiology and molecular neurobiology.

During the second half of the 20th century, the introduction of a variety of new techniques greatly expanded our knowledge of the structure of nerve and neuroglial cells and of the organization of the nervous system at the cellular level. This new information has, however, generally been scattered throughout the literature, making it difficult for investigators to gain an overall vision of the discipline. The author has marshalled these scattered data to provide a systematic overview of the field placed within a historical context. He has correlated the major new findings with the classical notions of light microscopy and has integrated them with elements of biochemistry and cell physiology. After the publication of the first edition, the introduction of new microscopies and especially the growth of molecular biology have greatly expanded our knowledge, in particular on the intercellular communication in the nervous system and on the roles of neuroglial cells. These achievements have made a second edition of the book necessary. The fully revised and updated text, together with unique high-quality illustrations of structures of the central and peripheral nervous system, ensure that this new edition will be invaluable for neuroscientists, particularly those involved in cellular neuropathology, neurochemistry, neurophysiology and molecular neurobiology.

This volume provides a comprehensive and updated review of perineuronal satellite cells in sensory ganglia. However, some years ago research findings suggested that satellite cells play a role in the development and maintenance of neuropathic pain. As a result, satellite cells are now considered as possible targets for neuropathic pain treatment.

The present review is based on the data of the literature, and on the personal experience gained by the author in recent years by studying the histogenesis of spinal ganglia. Probably, the reader will find more than one gap in the biblio- graphy. The author would like to point out that in no case are such gaps due to the voluntary omission of any information, interpretations, or views. The gaps are due only to the difficulties met in trying to master such a vast literature consisting of so many contributions which have appeared over more than a century. An endeavour has been made to report not only the morphological data, but also, whenever possible, information derived from histochemical and biochemical studies. 11. Origin 01 the Spinal Ganglia Before 1868 it was generally thought (see, e.g., Remak, 1851; Bidder and Kupffer, 1857) that the spinal ganglia arise from the mesoblast of the protoverte- brae (old term for somites). In 1868 His showed that the nerve cells of the spinal ganglia take their origin from the ectoderm, and more precisely from a thin band of ectoderm (Zwischenstrang, neural crest) flanking each side of the neural plate (Fig.1 a) and interposed between it and the somatic ectoderm (Hornblatt). On this subject His (1879) wrote in a later paper " ...die spinalen Ganglien ...aus einem schmalen Substanz streifen hervorgehen, welche zwischen der Medullarplatte und dem Hornblatte gelegen ist und dessen Material ich als Zwischenstrang bezeichnet habe".