Cells in neonatal rat hypothalamus primary culture - ab immunofluorescence study

Abstract

Hypothalami from 1 day neonatal rats were dissociated and cultured for 4–16 days. Using immunofluorescence and antisera against neurofilament (NF) peptides, glial fibrillary acidic protein (GFAP), galactocerebroside and fibronectin we have distinguished neurons, astricytes, oligodendrocytes and fibroblast-like cells in culture. Astrocytes initially grew as islets of 15–30 cells which dispered as the culture aged. These cells, together with fibronectin-reactive flat cells, formed a monolayer upon which ovoid and process-bearing cells grew after 4 days in culture. Neurofilament-positive neurons constituted 5–10% of the total cell population. In maturing cultures the number of neurons decreased and fibroblasts increased. Oligodendrocytes represented less than 1% of total cell population. These studies emphasize the necessity of using the complementary techniques of morphology and immunocytochemistry for the characterization of hypothalamic neural cells in vitro.