Comparison of astrocytic morphology, proliferation, marker profile and response to neurons in wild-type and weaver mutant mouse cerebella in culture.
In serum-free monolayer cultures of early postnatal weaver (wv/wv) cerebellum granule neurons show decreased attachment, survival and neurite outgrowth when compared to wild-type (+/+) littermate cultures. wv/wv Astrocytes display a more epithelioid morphology and altered proliferation. However, both morphology and proliferation of wv/wv astrocytes were reversed to a normal phenotype by addition of purified small neurons from early postnatal cerebella from +/+ animals. Attachment of +/+ neurons to wv/wv astrocytes was not significantly different from that of +/+ astrocytes and antigenic marker profiles of wv/wv and +/+ astrocytes differed only slightly. Attempts failed to revert the abnormal wv/wv phenotype in neurons by addition of gangliosides, triiodothyronine T3, prostaglandin A2, medium containing 1% horse serum, conditioned medium from +/+ cerebellar cultures, or by cocultivation with +/+ astrocytes. We would like to suggest that the primary defect of the wv/wv mutation is predominantly an abnormality in granule cell neurons, but not of the vast majority of astrocytes.
D000818:Animals; D000941:Antigens / Q000032:analysis; D001253:Astrocytes / Q000166:cytology* / Q000276:immunology; D002450:Cell Communication; D002455:Cell Division; D002478:Cells, Cultured; D051379:Mice; D008810:Mice, Inbred C57BL; D008808:Mice, Inbred CBA; D008818:Mice, Neurologic Mutants; D009474:Neurons / Q000166:cytology
D000941:Antigens