Mains R E, Patterson P H
J Cell Biol. 1973 Nov;59(2 Pt 1):361-6. doi: 10.1083/jcb.59.2.361.
Several biochemical parameters of dissociated sympathetic neurons from superior cervical ganglia of the newborn rat were monitored as a function of age in culture. The neurons, which were grown in the virtual absence of non-neural cells, displayed a striking increase in their ability to synthesize and accumulate catecholamines. This capacity increased 50-fold during a 3-wk period in vitro, after which it appeared to reach a steady level. The major change took place during the second week. The time course of this change was not affected by plating the neurons at a higher cell density. The change in the catecholamine metabolism was far greater in magnitude and quite different in time course from the overall growth of the cells which was monitored by the incorporation of radioactive tyrosine into protein, lipid synthesis from radioactive choline, and incorporation of radioactive uridine into acid-precipitable material. Of the total tyrosine used by the cultures, the proportion devoted to catecholamine synthesis increased to 25% (a 10-fold rise) during the 3-wk period. This changing pattern of metabolism in the cultures suggested a process of maturation which may be similar to neuronal development in vivo.
监测新生大鼠颈上神经节中分离出的交感神经元的几个生化参数随培养时间的变化。这些神经元在几乎没有非神经细胞的情况下生长，其合成和积累儿茶酚胺的能力显著增加。在体外培养的3周时间里，这种能力增加了50倍，之后似乎达到稳定水平。主要变化发生在第二周。这种变化的时间进程不受以更高细胞密度接种神经元的影响。儿茶酚胺代谢的变化在幅度上远大于通过放射性酪氨酸掺入蛋白质、放射性胆碱合成脂质以及放射性尿苷掺入酸沉淀物质来监测的细胞总体生长，且在时间进程上也有很大不同。在培养物所用的总酪氨酸中，用于儿茶酚胺合成的比例在3周内增加到25%（增加了10倍）。培养物中这种不断变化的代谢模式表明了一个成熟过程，这可能类似于体内神经元的发育。
