PURPOSE To investigate the effects of basic fibroblast and epidermal growth factor (FGF2 and EGF, respectively) on the survival and phenotypic expression of photoreceptors isolated from adult mammalian retinas. METHODS Primary cultures highly enriched in photoreceptors were prepared from adult domestic pig retinas and maintained in chemically defined medium. Cell culture composition was chara...

Neurogenesis persists in two adult brain regions: the ventricular subependyma and the subgranular cell layer in the hippocampal dentate gyrus (DG). Previous work in many laboratories has shown explicitly that multipotential, self-renewing stem cells in the subependyma are the source of newly generated migrating neurons that traverse the rostral migratory stream and incorporate into the olfactor...

Chronic glial activation in neurodegenerative diseases contributes to neuronal dysfunction and neuron loss through production of neuroinflammatory molecules. However, the molecular mechanisms, particularly the signal transduction pathways involved in glia-dependent neuron death, are poorly understood. As a first step to address this question, we used a neuron-glia co-culture system that allows ...

This is the second in a series of papers that describes the use of a sensitive microculture procedure to investigate the transmitter status of sympathetic neurons. Cultured immature principal neurons, dissociated from the superior cervical ganglia of newborn rats, are known to be plastic with respect to transmitter status; under certain culture conditions, populations of neurons that display (a...

It is well known that mature neurons in the central nervous system (CNS) cannot regenerate their axons after injuries due to diminished intrinsic ability to support axon growth and a hostile environment in the mature CNS(1,2). In contrast, mature neurons in the peripheral nervous system (PNS) regenerate readily after injuries(3). Adult dorsal root ganglion (DRG) neurons are well known to regene...

Regulation of the number and size of neurons presumably plays a role in the matching of a group of neurons to their target. In this paper the relationship of the cardiac ganglion neurons of the frog to their target is examined. Neurons in this ganglion first appear in the embryo and continue to accumulate for several months, even after the animal has completed metamorphosis, and eventually reac...

The nervous system of the marine mollusk Aplysia californica is relatively simple, consisting of approximately 20,000 neurons. The neurons are large (up to 1 mm in diameter) and identifiable, with distinct sizes, shapes, positions and pigmentations, and the cell bodies are externally exposed in five paired ganglia distributed throughout the body of the animal. These properties have allowed inve...

Here, we investigated the intracellular mechanisms that underlie the relative invulnerability of adult versus developing dorsal root ganglion (DRG) sensory neurons. In culture, adult neurons were resistant to stimuli that caused apoptosis of their neonatal counterparts. In both adult and neonatal neurons, death stimuli induced the apoptotic c-Jun N-terminal protein kinase (JNK) pathway, but JNK...

Background: In vitro model studies are becoming increasingly popular for experimental research designs. They include isolation and expansion of cells of a particular tissue, such as the nervous tissue which contributes to understanding the underlying mechanisms in many pathologies. It enables  the scrutinization of intracellular signaling pathways responsible for cell death. OBJECTIVES: In the ...

OBJECTIVE The apoptosis of motor neurons is a critical phenomenon in spinal cord injuries. Adult spinal cord slices were used to investigate whether voltage sensitive calcium channels and Na(+)/Ca(2+) exchangers play a role in the apoptosis of motor neurons. MATERIALS AND METHODS In this experimental research, the thoracic region of the adult mouse spinal cord was sliced using a tissue choppe...