Gangliosides restore the specificity of afferent projection patterns in spinal cord explants chronically exposed to tetrodotoxin.

Sensory afferent projection patterns within organotypic explants of fetal mouse spinal cord-dorsal root ganglia (SC-DRG) were mapped out histologically using an HRP-staining method. Cultures grown in tetrodotoxin-containing medium with added gangliosides, in contrast to those grown without the addition of these compounds, showed preferential DRG innervation of the dorsal half of the cord. It therefore appears that gangliosides can compensate for the absence of functional activity during the development of selective innervation patterns.