Microglia and oligodendroglia (Río-Hortega)
Microglía y oligodendroglía (Río-Hortega)
- Date
- 1919-1921 · confidence high
- Place
- Madrid, Community of Madrid, Spain
- Credited to
- Pío del Río-Hortega
- Field
- Life & health
What was discovered
Using a silver carbonate variant of silver impregnation, Pío del Río-Hortega identified microglia (1919) and oligodendroglia (1921), two classes of nervous-system cells distinct from neurons and astrocytes. He showed that microglia derive from the mesoderm and are phagocytic.
His work was done in Cajal's laboratory, with whom he had a falling-out in 1920 over priority regarding the “third element” of the nervous system. The mesodermal origin of microglia that Río-Hortega defended was debated for decades and is now known to come from the yolk sac.
What it led to
- recognition of microglia as the brain's immune cell
- the modern classification of neuroglia (astrocytes, oligodendrocytes, microglia)
- the Spanish Histological School after Cajal