Differentiation of primary embryonic neuroblasts in purified neural cell cultures from Drosophila☆

摘要

EmbryonicneuroblastsofDrosophilaareundifferentiatedprecursorcellsthatgiverisetothecentralnervoussystem.Centrifugalelutriationhasbeenemployedtofractionateembryoniccellsonthebasisofsize.Afractionoflargecellswasfoundtobegreatlyenrichedforneuroblasts,whereasmesodermalprecursorcellswerecompletelyexcluded.Thisallowedasecondstepofpurification,baseduponadhesiontoglass,toprovidevirtuallypureculturesofneuralcells.ThecellsinthesecultureshadthepropertiesofneuronsoftheDrosophilaCNS:Theygaverisetoganglion-likeclustersfromwhichneuritesextendedontheculturesubstrate,andtheyexpressedtheenzyme,acetylcholinesterase,andthecellsurfaceantigensrecognizedbyantiseraraisedagainsthorseradishperoxidase.Theproductionoflarge-scaleneuronalcellcultureswillbeusefulforimmunologicalandmolecularstudiesofneuralcelldifferentiation.