Two simian virus 40 (SV40)-transformed cell lines from the mouse striatum and mesencephalon presenting astrocytic characters. I. Immunological and pharmacological properties.

Dissociate cultures were initiated from embryonic rostral mesencephalic and striatal tissues dissected from the mouse brain and previously incubated with a simian virus 40 (SV40) suspension. After several weeks in culture foci of fastly dividing cells were resuspended and cloned by successive dilutions. Several clones expressing the SV40 nuclear T antigen were obtained by these procedures and two of them, one mesencephalic (F7-Mes) and one striatal (F12-Str) were screened for the expression of glial or neuronal characters. Both clones possess adenylate cyclase-linked beta 2-adrenergic receptors. They also take up and synthesize gamma-aminobutyric acid (GABA) in amounts compatible with a glial origin. As is the case for astrocytes, the uptake of GABA is inhibited by beta-alanine and rather insensitive to the presence of diaminobutyric acid (DABA), a specific inhibitor of the neuronal GABA carrier. The most convincing evidence that F7-Mes and F12-Str belong to the astrocytic lineage comes from the fact that the two cell lines synthesize glial fibrillary acidic protein (GFAP) as demonstrated by immunofluorescence and immunoblotting. In an accompanying paper we also show that these lines behave like astrocytes when considered from the point of view of neuroglial interactions.