Slow pulsatile movements of Schwann cells in vitro: a time-lapse cinemicrographic study.
Slow pulsatile movements of Schwann cells in vitro were studied quantitatively by using time-lapse cinemicrography. Schwann cells from peripheral nerves of 3-day-old rats were cultured in serum-free medium. Most Schwann cells showed intermittent episodes of pulsatile movement; each episode consisted of one or several contractile pulses. About half of the episodes consisted of a single pulse, and episodes with more than four pulses were rare. The average episode of activity lasted 2.6 min, while the average duration of a single pulse was 1.5 min. The mean quiescent interval between episodes of activity was 3.7 min. Some cells showed no pulsatile activity. Active cells averaged 6.6 episodes/h. The fraction of time which a Schwann cell spent in pulsatile activity varied widely, with an average of 28%. Behavior of Schwann cells in HEPES-buffered Hanks saline was generally similar to that in the complete medium. Raising K+ to 40 mM or Ca++ to 10 mM did not markedly affect the time course of the pulsatile motility, although the contractions were more vigorous in the high Ca++. Pulsatile movement was reversibly inhibited by cytochalasin B and appeared to be potentiated by drugs that disrupt microtubules.
D000818:Animals; D002118:Calcium / Q000494:pharmacology; D002465:Cell Movement / Q000187:drug effects; D002478:Cells, Cultured; D007700:Kinetics; D009040:Motion Pictures; D051381:Rats; D012583:Schwann Cells / Q000166:cytology / Q000502:physiology*; D012584:Sciatic Nerve / Q000502:physiology; D012964:Sodium / Q000494:pharmacology; D014630:Vagus Nerve / Q000502:physiology
D012964:Sodium; D002118:Calcium