Differences in energy metabolism between neurons and glial cells in primary cultures

Abstract

Publisher Summary This chapter discusses a study to examine the differences in energy metabolism between neurons and glial cells in primary cultures. The cultures of isolated neurons and glial cells were prepared from brains of chick embryos or newborn rats and studied for different aspects of their energy metabolism. The cells were grown in Dulbecco's modified Eagle medium either in the absence or presence of 1 mM dibutyryl cyclic AMP or 0.01 mM 5-bromodeoxyuridine, both beginning with the 2nd day for the neuronal and the 10th day for the glial cultures. Oxygen consumption was measured polarographically and the activities of lactate dehydrogenase, malate dehydrogenase, hexokinase, glutamate dehydrogenase, and aldolase were measured. The LDH isoenzyme pattern was determined as a function of cellular development with time in culture. In chick brain cells grown to confluency in drug free medium, the rate of oxygen consumption was found to be significantly higher in neuronal than in glial cultures. The levels of MDH, GDH, HK, and Ald were also higher in neurons than in glia. Chick glial cells were found to contain predominantly the anaerobic isoenzymatic form M4, and this isoenzyme pattern did not change with time.