Ronnett G V, Hester L D, Nye J S, Connors K, Snyder S H
Department of Neurology, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD 21205.
Science. 1990 May 4;248(4955):603-5. doi: 10.1126/science.1692158.
A cell line has been established in continuous culture of human cerebral cortical neurons obtained from a patient with unilateral megalencephaly, a disorder associated with continued proliferation of immature neuronal cells. When differentiated in the presence of nerve growth factor, 1-isobutyl-3-methylxanthine, and dibutyryl adenosine 3',5'-monophosphate (cAMP), the cells display mature neuronal morphology with numerous long, extensively branched processes with spines and varicosities. The cells stain positively for neurofilament protein and neuron-specific enolase (selective neuronal markers) but are negative for glial markers, such as glial fibrillary acidic protein, S-100, and myelin basic protein. The cells also stain positively for the neurotransmitters gamma-aminobutyric acid (GABA), glutamate, somatostatin, cholecystokinin-8, and vasoactive intestinal polypeptide. These cells may facilitate characterization of neurons in the human central nervous system.
