Structural/Functional Characteristics of Organotypic Spinal Cord Slices under Conditions of Long-Lasting Culturing

Abstract

Organotypic cultures of the spinal cord possess significant advantages, as compared with routine cell systems in vitro; the cytoarchitectonics, cytospecificity of the cells, cell-to-cell connections, and other characteristics of spinal cord tissues are preserved to a considerable extent. We analyzed structural/functional characteristics of organotypic spinal cord slices of mice under conditions of long-lasting (one to three weeks) culturing. Immunohistochemical staining and patch-clamp recordings from cells of the substantia gelatinosa showed that the morphology of different cell types and cell-to-cell connections typical of normal spinal nerve tissue are clearly manifested in such organotypic spinal cord cultures. This is why that such a technique of spinal cord culturing can be successfully used in subsequent experimental studies, in particular, in the examination of different-type damages of the spinal cord.