ABSTRACT
F. ROBERT', S. CONSTANTIN2, A. H. DUITTOZ2 and T. K. HEVOR' * 1 Laboratoire de Metabolisme Cerebral et Neuropathologies — U.P.R.E.S. E.A. 2633, Universite d'Orleans, B.R 6759, F-45067 Orleans Cedex 2, France
2INRA, Station de Physiologie de la Reproduction et du Comportement, Equipe de Neuroendocrinologie Sexuelle, F-37380 Nouzilly, France
Abstract-The central nervous system is composed of a variety of cell types. Among them neuronal and astroglial cells have been the subjects of numerous studies. Normal cerebral functions require a great degree of cooperation between neuronal and glial cells. Due to the fact that neural cells are highly mixed in the nervous system, it is not easy to know the role played by each cell type in vivo. The cell culture approach is an interesting alternative for research on a given cell type. In the present paper, we review different methods of obtaining the different kinds of neural cells that exist in the normal nervous system. Neuronal cells were easily cultured by seeding single cells in a defined Sato-type medium when the dish was coated by polylysine. A monolayer of protoplasmic astrocytes was obtained when culturing brain cells in a Dulbecco's modified Eagle's medium without a previous coating of the dishes. Fibrous astrocytes were obtained using dibutyryl cyclic AMP or a defined medium. Neural precursors were obtained and maintained in an undifferentiated state using epidermal growth factor and basic fibroblast growth factor. Starting from the sheep embryo brain, it was possible to culture brain stem cells for six months. These cells differentiated into radial glial cells. All the kinds of cells of the in vivo nervous system can be cultured. This offers the possibility of getting models for studying all the types of neural cells. Now, the factors inducing the development of the different phenotypes have to be studied.
