title: Cultivation of mammalian pineal cells: retention of organization and function in tissue culture.
abstract: By means of a newly developed method of cultivating pineal tissue in vitro, the types of cells which comprise rat pineal glands have been identified. Previous in vitro studies have involved short-term culture more suitably called "organ culture" and provide no means of assessing the contribution of a putative "pineal" cell versus any other cell type found in the cultures. Short-term outgrowths of minced rat pineal glands provided a reproducible and easily dissociated source of pineal-derived cells. In monolayer culture these cells continued to have pineal enzyme activities which were sensitive to pineal-activating substances, and the cells aggregated to mimic the lobular organization of intact glands. Two types of aggregates were found, each composed of a single morphological cell type. In addition to the transient appearance of skeletal muscle straps, connective tissue and neural/glial tissue was consistently found. The cell types are discussed in relation to their in vivo counterparts.
mesh_terms: D000121:Acetylserotonin O-Methyltransferase / Q000378:metabolism; D000123:Acetyltransferases / Q000378:metabolism; D000818:Animals; D002449:Cell Aggregation; D003239:Connective Tissue Cells; D046508:Culture Techniques / Q000379:methods; D009132:Muscles / Q000166:cytology; D009417:Nerve Tissue / Q000166:cytology; D010870:Pineal Gland / Q000201:enzymology; D051381:Rats
chemical_list: D000121:Acetylserotonin O-Methyltransferase; D000123:Acetyltransferases