Identification of catecholamine and luteinizing hormone-releasing hormone (LHRH)-containing neurons in primary cultures of dispersed cells of the basal hypothalamus.

Primary cultures of dispersed cells were prepared from 3-5 mg pieces of basal hypothalami of 10-12-day-old rats. The tissue included median eminence, arcuate nucleus and variable amounts of adjacent hypothalamus and preoptic area. The dispersion procedure consisted basically of tissue trypsinization and mechanical dissociation of cells. They were cultured in a modified L-15 medium in an air atmosphere. Neurons survived approximately 3 months. On the basis of morphological characteristics, two basic cell types could be distinguished. One was a larger (50 mum diameter) multipolar cell; microspectrofluorometric analysis revealed that a small percentage of these neurons contained a catecholamine. A second type was smaller, fusiform or ovoid and generally bipolar; a significant number of these were immunoreactive for the releasing hormone LHRH.