Glycosaminoglycans of disaggregated foetal mouse brain tissue cultures.

Abstract

Disaggregated foetal mouse brain tissue cultures were examined for glycosaminoglycans using Alcian Blue and periodic acid-Schiff staining techniques. It was found that spongioblasts (neuron and glial cell precursors) were rich in sulphated glycosaminoglycans, while astrocytes contained little or no sulphated polymers. The chief acid glycosaminoglycans of the brain reportedin vivo, hyaluronic acid, chondroitin sulphate and sialic acid-bearing polymers, were not demonstrated in the mouse brain cultures. There was a decline in glycosaminoglycan content over two weeks in culture, but during the corresponding periodin vivo an increase has been reported. These deficiencies are possibly correlated with the failure of the cultures to myelinate.