title: Morphological and biochemical differences expressed in separate dissociated cell cultures of dorsal and ventral halves of the mouse spinal cord.
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 decarboxylase (GAD) activity, and high-affinity gamma-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.
authors: Laboratory of Developmental Neurobiology, National Institute of Child Health and Human Development, Bethesda, MD 20892.
authors: P B
authors: PB
authors: Guthrie
authors: D E
authors: DE
authors: Brenneman
authors: E A
authors: EA
authors: Neale
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D002449:Cell Aggregation; D002452:Cell Count; D002469:Cell Separation; D002470:Cell Survival; D002478:Cells, Cultured; D002795:Choline O-Acetyltransferase / Q000378:metabolism; D005968:Glutamate Decarboxylase / Q000378:metabolism; D051379:Mice; D008810:Mice, Inbred C57BL; D009474:Neurons / Q000145:classification / Q000166:cytology* / Q000196:embryology / Q000201:enzymology; D013116:Spinal Cord / Q000166:cytology* / Q000196:embryology / Q000201:enzymology
chemical_list: D002795:Choline O-Acetyltransferase; D005968:Glutamate Decarboxylase