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Abstract
Tanycytes are located at the base of the brain and retain characteristics from their
developmental origins, such as radial glial cells, throughout their life span. With
transport mechanisms and modulation of tight junction proteins, tanycytes form a bridge
connecting the cerebrospinal fluid with the external limiting basement membrane. They
also retain the powers of self-renewal and can differentiate to generate neurones
and glia. Similar to radial glia, they are a heterogeneous family with distinct phenotypes.
Although the four subtypes so far distinguished display distinct characteristics,
further research is likely to reveal new subtypes. In this review, we have re-visited
the work of the pioneers in the field, revealing forgotten work that is waiting to
inspire new research with today's cutting-edge technologies. We have conducted a systematic
ultrastructural study of α-tanycytes that resulted in a wealth of new information,
generating numerous questions for future study. We also consider median eminence pituicytes,
a closely-related cell type to tanycytes, and attempt to relate pituicyte fine morphology
to molecular and functional mechanism. Our rationale was that future research should
be guided by a better understanding of the early pioneering work in the field, which
may currently be overlooked when interpreting newer data or designing new investigations.