Morphological, immunocytochemical and biological characteristics of experimental rabbit brain tumors in tissue culture

Cell and tissue culture of the central nervous system: recent developments and current applications

A survey of methods for cell and tissue culture of the central nervous system (CNS) is given. This includes a brief historical outline and description of methods in current use. Recent methodological improvements are emphasized, and it is shown how these are applied in modern neurobiological research. Both monolayer cell cultures and three-dimensional organ culture systems are widely used, each having advantages and limitations. In recent years, there has been considerable improvement of culture for prolonged periods in chemically defined media. Brain tissue from a wide spectrum of species have been used, including different types of human brain cells which can be propagated for several months. At present, these culture systems are employed for dynamic studies of the developing, the adult and ageing brain. It is possible to select neurons and the different classes of glial cells for culture purposes. Cell culture of the CNS has given new insights into the biology of brain tumours. Culture systems for experimental tumour therapy in vitro are also available. Recently, it has been shown that organ cultures of brain tissue can be used as targets for invasive glioma cells, enabling a direct study of the interactions between tumour cells and normal tissue to take place.

Glial fibrillary acidic protein in monolayer cultures of C-6 glioma cells: effect of aging and dibutyryl cyclic AMP

Aging induced a dramatic increase in the number of glial fibrillary acidic protein (GFA) positive cells in monolayer cultures of C-6 cells. Dibutyryl cyclic AMP (DBcAMP) had a similar effect on subconfluent cultures. Both aging and DBcAMP treatment also helped C-6 cells to develop mature astroglia like morphology.

Definition of a cell clone with astroglial characteristics derived from a chemically induced rabbit brain glioma

Three-month-old rabbits were started on a fortnightly schedule of intravenous injections of N-methyl-N-nitrosourea. All but two of the central nervous system tumors induced in this manner were propagated in culture as permanent cell lines. On the 76RB-G-414-H line established from a grade 2 astrocytoma of this series of neoplasms, a cloning procedure was carried out using a laser microbeam. The clonal line originated in this way has been maintained in long-term culture and given the 76/RB-G-414-H-C designation. The cells of the clone display invariably a bipolar or multipolar configuration with long processes. Intermediate filaments are common and even abundant in some cells. Positivity for S-100 and GFA proteins is a regular finding in these cells. In addition, dibutyryl cyclic adenosine monophosphate treatment reduces cell division and stimulates cell process formation of these cells. Thus, it appears that we succeeded in establishing in vitro and maintaining in long-term culture a clone of tumor cells with astrocytic characteristics.