Wolinsky E J, Patterson P H, Willard A L
J Neurosci. 1985 Jul;5(7):1675-9. doi: 10.1523/JNEUROSCI.05-07-01675.1985.
Placing neurons in tissue culture is one way to study how environmental factors affect their differentiation. Replacement of serum-supplementation of the culture medium with defined ingredients extends the experimenter's control of the culture environment; however it also introduces additional potential influences. In this report, we confirm the observation of Higgins and Burton (Higgins, D., and H. Burton (1982) Neuroscience 7:2241-2253) of increased frequency of electrical coupling in serum-free compared to serum-supplemented cultures of rat sympathetic neurons. In addition, experiments were performed to determine whether this effect results from the removal of serum or from the addition of the defined medium components to the culture environment. The results of testing individual ingredients of the defined medium recipe adapted for use on sympathetic neurons (Bottenstein, J.E., and G. H. Sato (1979) Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U. S. A. 76:514-517) show that insulin is capable of inducing electrical coupling in serum-free cultures. Thus, the formation of electrical synapses by sympathetic neurons can be hormonally regulated.
将神经元置于组织培养中是研究环境因素如何影响其分化的一种方法。用特定成分替代培养基中的血清补充物可扩大实验者对培养环境的控制；然而，这也引入了额外的潜在影响。在本报告中，我们证实了希金斯和伯顿（希金斯，D.，和H.伯顿（1982年）《神经科学》7:2241 - 2253）的观察结果，即与添加血清的大鼠交感神经元培养物相比，无血清培养物中电耦合频率增加。此外，还进行了实验以确定这种效应是由于血清的去除还是由于向培养环境中添加了特定的培养基成分。对适用于交感神经元的特定培养基配方的各个成分进行测试的结果（博滕斯坦，J.E.，和G.H.佐藤（1979年）《美国国家科学院院刊》76:514 - 517）表明，胰岛素能够在无血清培养物中诱导电耦合。因此，交感神经元形成电突触可受到激素调节。
