Glial cells Illustration

This illustration was submitted and selected among the Finalist of the 11th International Illustration Prize.

Glial cells have awakened high interest among the scientific community in recent years due to their potential to explain neurodegenerative processes in diseases such as Alzheimer's or Multiple Sclerosis. Glial cells play a multitude of functions that can be summarized in the homeostatic maintenance of the nervous system. It is known that glial cells participate in synaptic processes, known as tripartite synapses. There is a high diversity of them, with multiple states. That is why this illustration represents the main known subtypes in the central nervous system of the adult Homo sapiens. They can be observed: microglia – (1.1) activated, (1.2) amoeboid, (1.3) ramified –; (2) ependymocytes; astrocytes – (3.1) protoplasmic, (3.2) fibrous –; and finally, (4) oligodendrocytes. Modern neuroscience is evolving towards considering structures and cellular types beyond the brain and the neuron.