Morphological differentiation of nerve cells in thin organotypic cultures derived from rat hippocampus and cerebellum.
Explants of cerebellum and hippocampus were cultured by means of the roller-tube technique. Large nerve cells such as Purkinje cells and pyramidal cells were injected with the fluorescent dye lucifer yellow. The results demonstrate that cultured neurons grow dendritic arborizations in a pattern that is reminiscent of their in situ counterparts. This finding supports the view that under the described culturing conditions nerve cells show a high degree of differentiation despite an altered biochemical and topographical environment.
D000818:Animals; D000831:Animals, Newborn; D002454:Cell Differentiation; D002478:Cells, Cultured; D002531:Cerebellum / Q000166:cytology / Q000502:physiology*; D006624:Hippocampus / Q000166:cytology / Q000502:physiology*; D009474:Neurons / Q000166:cytology / Q000502:physiology*; D009928:Organ Specificity; D051381:Rats