[Rat retinal ganglion cells in culture].
OBJECTIVE
To establish a culture system for retinal ganglion cells (RGCs) in order to lay a foundation for the experimental research in vitro.


METHODS
The retinae of 16 postnatal 2 - 3 day Sprague-Dawley rats were dissected into cell suspension with trypsin digestion. The cell suspension was implanted in 24 well culture plates with a cover slide 1 cm(2) in size and covered with murine tail collagen preplaced in each well (4 x 10(5) cells/well) and cultured under 37 degree C in an incubator with 5% CO(2). The cells were identified by immunocytochemical method with anti-rat Thy -1.1 monoclonal antibody after culture for 1, 3, 5 days, respectively, and the number of RGCs and its axon-growth percentage were counted in each 10-field high power (HP, 200 x) view under light microscope.


RESULTS
The RGCs cultured in murine tail collagen tissue grew very well. Some cells possessed axons and some axons connected in networks. The RGC number and its axon-growth percentage were (401 +/- 9) cells/10 HP and (25.34 +/- 0.72)% in 1-day-culture, (351 +/- 6) cells/10 HP and (35.16 +/- 2.22)% in 3-day-culture, (109 +/- 8) cells/10 HP and (69.84 +/- 0.97)% in 5-day-culture, respectively.


CONCLUSIONS
RGCs can be cultured successfully and the murine tail collagen tissue is a good substratum for RGC survival in vitro.
Zhong
Y
Y
Department of Ophthalmology, Second Affiliated Hospital, Hunan Medical University, Changsha 410011.
Jiang
Y
Y
Xiong
X
X
D000818:Animals; D001369:Axons / Q000502:physiology; D002452:Cell Count; D002478:Cells, Cultured; D051381:Rats; D017207:Rats, Sprague-Dawley; D012165:Retinal Ganglion Cells / Q000166:cytology*