In vitro experiments on neuronal and glial cell lineages among the ventricular cells of the mouse neural plate

In vitro differentiation of E-N-CAM expressing rat neural precursor cells isolated by FACS during prenatal development

Most fetal rat brain cells expressing the embryonal, highly sialylated form of the cell adhesion molecule N-CAM (E-N-CAM) are precursor cells, as judged from the absence of marker molecules specific for mature neural cell types. However, the detection of E-N-CAM+ cells in frozen sections does not provide information on the lineage-specific differentiation of these cells during development. To investigate their differentiation behaviour in vitro, E-N-CAM+ cells were isolated at different times of brain development by fluorescence-activated cell sorting (FACS), using a monoclonal antibody (Mab RB21-7) which specifically recognizes polysialic acid (PSA) residues on E-N-CAM. Double-immunofluorescence analyses showed that the majority of E-N-CAM+ cells isolated on prenatal days 15 to 18 differentiated into neurons while a small subset of Mab RB21-7 binding cells proved to be astrocytic precursors and/or bipotential. The proportion of E-N-CAM+ astrocytic precursors increased during later development (prenatal day 22) concomitantly with the onset of gliogenesis. While conversion of E-N-CAM to mature forms of N-CAM was never observed in neurons during cultivation, E-N-CAM+ cells of the astrocyte lineage switched to N-CAM soon after the onset of GFAP expression. A lineage-specific transition of E-N-CAM to mature N-CAM expression is, therefore, suggested for these astrocytic progenitor cells during rat brain development.

Development of membrane currents in mammalian neuroventricular cells from the early neural tube stage in vitro: aspects of the neuronal lineage

Neuroepithelial cells from the murine brain anlage at the early neural tube stage (embryonic day 9 1/2, stage 15) were cultured. Their morphology and the development of membrane currents were studied during 2 weeks in culture. Immediately after dissociation the cells were equal in shape and no morphological or ultrastructural differences were evident. Patch-clamp measurements within the first 2 h, however, showed different membrane properties. Either sodium inward currents or potassium outward currents were observed in these undifferentiated cells, but no combined inward and outward currents were found. This would mean that some of the neuroventricular cells, but obviously not all of them, display neuronal membrane properties (sodium currents) in the immediate post neural plate stage. After 1 day, developing neurons could be identified morphologically by neurotubuli and process formation. The transformation of these cells into neurons was electrophysiologically characterized by an increasing sodium channel density and the expression of various kinds of potassium channels. After 4 days the vast majority of the neurons was electrically excitable, i.e. they could generate action potentials. The standard electrical profile at this time was characterized by a sodium inward current followed by a delayed potassium outward current. In the following days the complexity of membrane currents increased in some neurons by the emergence of transient potassium currents. After 2 weeks in culture different neuronal phenotypes could be identified.

Generation of developmental patterns in the neuroepithelium of the developing mammalian eye: the pigment epithelium of the eye

Culture experiments with eye anlages of mouse embryos were performed to study developmental traits of the neuroepithelial cells of the prospective pigment epithelium in the eye anlage of pigmented mice. Between the neural plate stage on embryonic day 8 (ED 8, developmental stage 12) and the neural tube stage on embryonic day 9 1/2 (stage 15), the cultured neuroepithelium of the eye generated neurons and glia, identified by morphological and immunocytochemical evidence, but no pigmented cells. In contrast, eye anlages did produce pigment epithelium when cultured in their natural position in a head tissue fragment. A minority of developing neurons displayed tyrosine hydroxylase immunoreactivity, whereas GABAergic, serotoninergic and substance P-ergic neurons, which are common in the mature neuroretina, were not observed. When neuroepithelial cells from embryonic eyes older than stage 15 (ED 9 1/2) were cultured, they differentiated into pigment cells but not into nerve cells or glia. This developmental sequence indicates that the pigment cells derive from the neural lineage. Pigment cell fate dominates over the neural fate beginning at about stage 15 (ED 9 1/2-10). That is at least 2 days before the pigment cell phenotype becomes apparent in vivo (ED 11 1/2-12).

In vitro differentiation of human retinoblastoma cells into neuronal phenotypes

In order to characterize the cell type(s) of origin of human retinoblastoma cells by immunophenotyping, primary cells from seven retinoblastomas and of the corresponding cell lines (RBL lines), as well as four retinoblastoma (RB) lines established by other groups, were compared with rat and human retina cells, and with the adenovirus E1A-transformed human retinoblast cell line HER-Xho1-CC2. Analyses using monoclonal antibodies (Mabs) RB13-2 and RB21-7, originally raised against prenatal rat brain cells and recognizing neural cell surface antigens expressed in a developmental-stage-dependent manner, and three cell-type-specific Mabs (Q211, M501, Mab directed against vimentin) developed by other groups, gave the following results: (i) Retinoblastomas consist of cells expressing differentiated neuronal phenotypes during cultivation in vitro; (ii) All of the newly established RBL lines express neuronal phenotypes; and (iii) Cell lines such as Y79, which have been propagated in vitro for extended periods, do not express antigens specific for the neuronal pathway and cannot, therefore, be considered phenotypically representative of retinoblastoma cells.

Myelin formation following transplantation of normal fetal glia into myelin-deficient rat spinal cord

Structurally normal myelin sheaths develop in the spinal cord of juvenile myelin-deficient rats (mdr) 11 days after transplantation of normal fetal spinal cord fragments or cultured cells that do not yet express galactocerebroside. Cultures result in more extensive myelin formation, and in both cases the myelin that forms is located primarily at or near the site of transplantation. Myelin formation also occurs after transplantation of postnatal donor tissue, but the extent diminishes with donor age, and none was seen after transplantation of adult donor tissue over the two-week period studied. Injection of killed tissue, tissue derived from mouse donors or an extract of myelin also did not lead to myelin formation. The results imply that myelin formed in the host following transplantation was generated by oligodendrocytes newly differentiated from donor precursor cells rather than by donor oligodendrocytes that were already mature at the time of transplantation or by host oligodendrocytes that took up components of the injected material. We conclude that exogenous fetal glial cell precursors are able to survive, differentiate and form myelin in the environment of the juvenile mdr spinal cord.