title: Mouse epidermal growth factor-responsive neural precursor cells increase the survival and functional capacity of embryonic rat dopamine neurons in vitro.
abstract: We have grown expanded populations of epidermal growth factor (EGF)-responsive mouse striatal precursor cells and subsequently co-cultured these with primary E14 rat ventral mesencephalon. The aim of these experiments was to induce dopaminergic (DA) neuronal phenotypes from the murine precursors. While no precursor cell-derived neurons were induced to express tyrosine hydroxylase (TH), there was a dramatic 30-fold increase in the survival of rat-derived TH-positive neurons in the co-cultures. The effect was not explicable solely in terms of total plating density, and was accompanied by a significantly enhanced capacity for [3H]dopamine uptake in the co-cultures compared to rat alone cultures. The present data show that, although primary rat E14 mesencephalic cells are incapable of inducing the development of DA neurons from EGF-responsive mouse neural precursor cells, such precursors will differentiate into cells capable of enhancing the survival and overall functional efficacy of primary embryonic dopamine neurons.
authors.affiliation: MRC Cambridge Centre for Brain Repair, University of Cambridge, UK.
authors.forename: T
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Ostenfeld
authors.forename: P
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Horn
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Aardal
authors.forename: I
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Orpen
authors.forename: M A
authors.initials: MA
authors.lastname: Caldwell
authors.forename: C N
authors.initials: CN
authors.lastname: Svendsen
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D000911:Antibodies, Monoclonal; D018929:Cell Culture Techniques / Q000379:methods; D002454:Cell Differentiation / Q000502:physiology; D002470:Cell Survival / Q000187:drug effects / Q000502:physiology; D002478:Cells, Cultured; D003342:Corpus Striatum / Q000166:cytology; D004298:Dopamine / Q000502:physiology*; D004815:Epidermal Growth Factor / Q000494:pharmacology*; D005333:Fetus / Q000166:cytology; D051379:Mice; D009457:Neuroglia / Q000166:cytology; D009474:Neurons / Q000166:cytology* / Q000201:enzymology; D051381:Rats; D017207:Rats, Sprague-Dawley; D013234:Stem Cells / Q000166:cytology*; D014446:Tyrosine 3-Monooxygenase / Q000032:analysis / Q000276:immunology
chemical_list: D000911:Antibodies, Monoclonal; D004815:Epidermal Growth Factor; D014446:Tyrosine 3-Monooxygenase; D004298:Dopamine