Expression of an intrinsic growth strategy by mammalian retinal neurons

• Published in: Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences - PNAS 1989-09, Vol.86 (18), p.7223-7227
• Main Authors: Montague, P.R. (University of Alabama at Birmingham, Birmingham, AL), Friedlander, M.J
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Aging; ANIMAL PHYSIOLOGY; Animals; Astrocytes; Astrocytes - cytology; Axons - physiology; Biological and medical sciences; CATS; CELL CULTURE; Cell culture techniques; Cell Cycle; Cell Differentiation; Cell differentiation, maturation, development, hematopoiesis; Cell growth; Cell physiology; CELL STRUCTURE; Cell Survival; Cells, Cultured; Cerebral Cortex - cytology; CHAT; CULTIVO DE CELULAS; CULTURE DE CELLULES; Cultured cells; Embryo, Mammalian; ESTRUCTURA CELULAR; EYES; FISIOLOGIA ANIMAL; Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology; GANGLIA; GANGLION NERVEUX; GANGLIOS; GATO; Hausdorff dimensions; Models, Neurological; Molecular and cellular biology; NERVOUS SYSTEM; Neurites; Neurons; Neurons - cytology; Neuroscience; OEIL; OJOS; PHYSIOLOGIE ANIMALE; Rats; Retina; Retina - cytology; Retina - growth & development; Retinal Ganglion Cells - cytology; SISTEMA NERVIOSO; STRUCTURE CELLULAIRE; SYSTEME NERVEUX
• ISSN: 0027-8424; 1091-6490
• DOI: 10.1073/pnas.86.18.7223

Postnatal cat retinal ganglion cells (RGCs) were retrogradely labeled with fluorescent microspheres, dissociated from the retina using a peeling procedure, and monitored in cell culture with a time-lapse video microscopy system. The spatial patterns formed by the growing neurites were analyzed using conventional and fractal measures (Hausdorff dimension, H) of their extent and complexity. The results presented were obtained from the arborizations formed by the neurites of 48 labeled and isolated ganglion cells growing separate from each other and separate from a feeder layer of astrocytes. Cells were obtained from animals when the RGCs were postmitotic and after dendritic differentiation in vivo at age 0-1 week (4/48), 2-5 weeks (35/48), or 6-8 weeks (9/48). By 48 hr after plating, the number of surviving labeled RGCs was reduced to 22-28% of its initial value. After removal of all processes and isolation in vitro, these RGCs expressed neurite patterns strikingly similar to those seen in the intact retina, although the RGCs had been deprived of potential cues from the intact retina and target tissue. Self crossings of the growing neurites were rare (