ependyma
Sign in to saveAlso known as Ependyma of neuraxis, ependymal zone
The ependyma is the thin neuroepithelial (simple columnar ciliated epithelium) lining of the ventricular system of the brain and the central canal of the spinal cord. The ependyma is one of the four types of neuroglia in the central nervous system (CNS). It is involved in the production of cerebrospinal fluid (CSF), and is shown to serve as a reservoir for neuroregeneration.
Key facts
- Anatomy.Name
- Ependyma
- Anatomy.Image
- Gray667.png
- Anatomy.Caption
- Section of central canal of the spinal cord, showing ependyma and glia
- Anatomy.Image2
- Ependyma.png
- Anatomy.Caption2
- Photomicrograph of normal ependymal cells at 400× magnification in human autopsy tissue
via Wikipedia infobox
Research
3,958 papers- Ependyma in Neurodegenerative Diseases, Radiation-Induced Brain Injury and as a Therapeutic Target for Neurotrophic Factors.Biomolecules · 2023
- Shifting from ependyma to choroid plexus epithelium and the changing expressions of aquaporin-1 and aquaporin-4.The Journal of physiology · 2024
- Ependyma: normal and pathological. A review of the literature.Brain research · 1985
- Non-Neoplastic Lesions of the Ependyma: A Neuropathological Overview.Neuropathology : official journal of the Japanese Society of Neuropathology · 2025
- Role of human fetal ependyma.Pediatric neurology · 1992
via PubMed
Wikidata facts
- Image
- Ependyma.png
Show 2 more facts
- NCI Thesaurus ID
- C13078
- Commons category
- Ependyma
via Wikidata · CC0
~3 min read
Article
8 sectionsContents
- Structure
- Function
- Cerebrospinal fluid
- Neuroregeneration
- Clinical significance
- See also
- References
- External links
The ependyma is the thin neuroepithelial (simple columnar ciliated epithelium) lining of the ventricular system of the brain and the central canal of the spinal cord. The ependyma is one of the four types of neuroglia in the central nervous system (CNS). It is involved in the production of cerebrospinal fluid (CSF), and is shown to serve as a reservoir for neuroregeneration.
==Structure== The ependyma is made up of ependymal cells called ependymocytes, a type of glial cell. These cells line the ventricles in the brain and the central canal of the spinal cord, which become filled with cerebrospinal fluid. These are nervous tissue cells with simple columnar shape, much like that of some mucosal epithelial cells. Early monociliated ependymal cells are differentiated to multiciliated ependymal cells for their function in circulating cerebrospinal fluid.