In vitro studies on the comparative sensitivities of cells of the central nervous system to diphtheria toxin.
We have used tissue culture techniques and cell type-specific antibodies to compare the sensitivity of the various cell types of the white matter tracts of the rat central nervous system to in vitro exposure to diphtheria toxin (DTx). We have found that oligodendrocytes and Type 2 astrocytes (Raff et al. 1983a), which at least in the rat optic nerve, appear to be derived from a single bipotential progenitor cell (Raff et al. 1983b), are both more susceptible to DTx than are either Type 1 astrocytes or spinal neurones. The loss of oligodendrocytes and Type 2 astrocytes caused by exposure to DTx in vitro appeared to be irreversible. Even when cultures were maintained for a month following initial treatment with DTx, these glial populations were not reestablished, suggesting that precursors for these macroglial cell types were as sensitive to the effects of DTx as were the oligodendrocytes and Type 2 astrocytes themselves. Our results are discussed in the light of the failure of diphtheritic lesions to remyelinate in vivo.
D000818:Animals; D000831:Animals, Newborn; D001253:Astrocytes / Q000187:drug effects; D002490:Central Nervous System / Q000187:drug effects*; D002540:Cerebral Cortex; D003337:Corpus Callosum; D046508:Culture Techniques; D004167:Diphtheria Toxin / Q000494:pharmacology*; D004622:Embryo, Mammalian; D009457:Neuroglia / Q000187:drug effects*; D009836:Oligodendroglia / Q000187:drug effects; D051381:Rats; D013116:Spinal Cord
D004167:Diphtheria Toxin