Elsevier

Brain Research

Volume 420, Issue 2, 15 September 1987, Pages 313-323
Brain Research

Morphological and biochemical differences expressed in separate dissociated cell cultures of dorsal and ventral halves of the mouse spinal cord

https://doi.org/10.1016/0006-8993(87)91252-2Get rights and content

Abstract

The neuronal properties of separate dissociated cell cultures of dorsal and ventral halves of the embryonic mouse spinal cord (E 13.5) were investigated. Ventral-half cultures grew on a variety of substrates and in a variety of media; dorsal-half cultures required a non-neuronal feeder layer and supplemented medium for survival. The two types of cultures differed in their morphological and biochemical properties. Ventral-half neurons remained well separated on the culture plate, whereas dorsal-half neurons tended to aggregate. Lucifer yellow fills showed that ventral-half neurons were substantially larger and had more processes than dorsal-half neurons. Because of the large size and good separation of the neurons, ventral-half cultures provide an especially attractive system for electrophysiologic and morphologic studies. Ventral-half cultures were highly enriched for choline acetyltransferase (ChAT) activity and had more neurons that stained for intracellular acetylcholinesterase (AChE); dorsal-half cultures were enriched for glutamic acid decar☐ylase (GAD) activity, and high-affinity γ-aminobutyric acid (GABA) uptake. The clear differences between the two cultures indicate that many morphological and biochemical properties are already specified on embryonic day 13.5.

References (30)

  • CavallitoC.J. et al.

    Choline acetyltransferase inhibitors: dimensional and substituent effects among styrylpyridine analogs

    J. Med. Chem.

    (1970)
  • CrainS.M. et al.

    Selective innervation of target regions within fetal mouse spinal cord and medulla explants by isolated dorsal root ganglia in organotypic co-cultures

    Dev. Brain Res.

    (1982)
  • GillerE.L. et al.

    Choline acetyltransferase activity of spinal cord cell cultures increased by co-culture with muscle and by muscle-conditioned medium

    J. Cell Biol.

    (1977)
  • GuthrieP.B. et al.

    Mouse spinal cord in dissociated cell culture — separate culture of dorsal and ventral halves

    Soc. Neurosci. Abstr.

    (1982)
  • HabigW.H. et al.

    Tetanus toxin in dissociated spinal cord cultures: long-term characterization of form and action

    J. Neurochem.

    (1986)

    • Cited by (0)

    A preliminary report of this work has appeared (ref. 10).

    *

    Present address: Program in Neuronal Growth and Development, Colorado State University, Ft. Collins, CO 80523, U.S.A.

    View full text
    Copyright © 1987 Published by Elsevier B.V.