title: Afferent influences on striatal development in organotypic cocultures.
abstract: Organotypic cocultures of striatum, cortex, and ventral mesencephalon were used to study the anatomical and physiological development of striatal neurons in the presence or absence of cortical and nigral (SN/VTA) inputs. Striatum and cortex were dissected from prenatal (E18-E22) or early postnatal (P0-P2) rats, and SN/VTA was dissected from E14-15 fetuses; pieces were maintained up to 3 weeks in static slice culture. Triple cocultures containing SN/VTA exhibited rapid and robust dopamine (DA) innervation of the striatum in a patchy pattern, and homogeneous distribution within the cortical piece, regardless of the orientations of the three pieces. DA fibers within the striatal piece overlapped striatal patch neurons, marked by DARPP-32 immunoreactivity, in striatal cultures prepared from all age rats, but development most analogous to that seen in vivo was observed with the use of late prenatal (E20-E22) striatum. The patch/matrix organization was maintained in cultures prepared from late prenatal striatum in the presence of cortical and nigrostriatal DA afferents. In addition, a more complete transition to a patchy organization was observed in E18/19 striatal cultures in the presence of cortical and DA innervation. Electrophysiological recording demonstrated the presence of both spontaneous and cortically evoked activity in striatal medium spiny neurons; this activity was greatly influenced by the presence of DA innervation. These findings demonstrate the importance of afferent innervation in the maturation of striatal neurons in organotypic cultures.
authors.affiliation: David Axelrod Institute, New York State Department of Health, Albany, New York 12208, USA. snykell@wadsworth.org
authors.forename: Abigail
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Snyder-Keller
authors.forename: Kuei Y
authors.initials: KY
authors.lastname: Tseng
authors.forename: Gregory D
authors.initials: GD
authors.lastname: Lyng
authors.forename: David J
authors.initials: DJ
authors.lastname: Graber
authors.forename: Patricio
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: O'Donnell
mesh_terms: D000200:Action Potentials / Q000502:physiology; D000344:Afferent Pathways / Q000166:cytology / Q000196:embryology / Q000378:metabolism; D000818:Animals; D002450:Cell Communication / Q000502:physiology; D002454:Cell Differentiation / Q000502:physiology*; D002540:Cerebral Cortex / Q000166:cytology / Q000196:embryology* / Q000378:metabolism; D018920:Coculture Techniques; D003342:Corpus Striatum / Q000166:cytology / Q000196:embryology* / Q000378:metabolism; D004298:Dopamine / Q000378:metabolism*; D051937:Dopamine and cAMP-Regulated Phosphoprotein 32 / Q000378:metabolism; D007150:Immunohistochemistry; D009474:Neurons / Q000166:cytology / Q000378:metabolism*; D019581:Neuropil / Q000378:metabolism / Q000648:ultrastructure; D009924:Organ Culture Techniques; D017729:Presynaptic Terminals / Q000378:metabolism / Q000648:ultrastructure; D051381:Rats; D017207:Rats, Sprague-Dawley; D013378:Substantia Nigra / Q000166:cytology / Q000196:embryology* / Q000378:metabolism; D009435:Synaptic Transmission / Q000502:physiology
chemical_list: D051937:Dopamine and cAMP-Regulated Phosphoprotein 32; C497930:Ppp1r1b protein, rat; D004298:Dopamine