title: Mitogen induced proliferation of isolated adult mouse Schwann cells.
abstract: The proliferation of neonatal Schwann cells (SCs) in response to mitogenic agents has been well analyzed in vitro, but a limited range of mitogens have been defined. We investigated whether three identified neonatal SC mitogens [glial growth factor (GGF), platelet-derived growth factor BB (PDGF-BB), and basic fibroblast growth factor (bFGF)] are required to stimulate mitosis of adult SCs. Adult SCs were isolated from mouse sciatic nerves by mechanical and chemical dissociation, following three experimental steps: 1) culturing the dissociated cells for 24 hr in 10% FCS-F12 medium, 2) culturing these cells in serum-free medium for the next 48 hr, and 3) purifying adult SCs by differential adhesion. We describe a new method for preparation of SCs from peripheral nerves of adult mouse that provides 99.5% pure SCs populations at cell yields of greater than 3 x 10(3) cells/mg of starting nerve wet weight within 5 culture days. Although mitosis of SCs in culture in response to mitogens requires the presence of serum, the complex nature of serum renders difficult a complete analysis of mitogens required for SCs DNA synthesis, so we examined the proliferating response of adult SCs to GGF, PDGF-BB, and bFGF in serum-free medium. GGF alone had mitogenicity for adult SCs in a dose-dependent manner, and synergistic activation coupling with forskolin was not observed. Neither PDGF-BB nor bFGF was mitogenic for adult SCs when used alone or with forskolin.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)
authors.affiliation: Department of Physiology, School of Medicine, Yokohama City University, Japan.
authors.forename: B T
authors.initials: BT
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.forename: N
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Hikawa
authors.forename: H
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Horie
authors.forename: T
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Takenaka
mesh_terms: D000375:Aging / Q000502:physiology; D000818:Animals; D002455:Cell Division / Q000187:drug effects; D002469:Cell Separation; D002478:Cells, Cultured; D016895:Culture Media, Serum-Free; D000242:Cyclic AMP / Q000378:metabolism; D007150:Immunohistochemistry; D007425:Intracellular Membranes / Q000378:metabolism; D051379:Mice; D008810:Mice, Inbred C57BL; D008934:Mitogens / Q000494:pharmacology*; D012583:Schwann Cells / Q000166:cytology* / Q000187:drug effects* / Q000378:metabolism
chemical_list: D016895:Culture Media, Serum-Free; D008934:Mitogens; D000242:Cyclic AMP