Early dendrite development in spinal cord cell cultures: a quantitative study.

Neurons in dissociated cell culture provide a favorable system for the quantitative analysis of structural changes and the examination of structure-function relationships during development. Fragment C of tetanus toxin was used to label neurons in murine spinal cord cell cultures and dendrite outgrowth was monitored by a number of measures. The dissociated neurons increased in morphologic complexity from approximate spheres to highly branched structures during the first week in culture. Much of the structural complexity of the dendrite arbor, as quantified by fractal dimension, was established within 48 hr after plating, i.e., prior to the development of interneuronal contacts. During the first few days in culture, dendrite branching complexity increased more rapidly than dendrite size, whereas after 4 days, fractal dimension remained relatively constant while dendrites continued to grow. Fractal analysis has provided data which suggest that the early development of dendrite branching complexity is determined intrinsically. Fractal dimension, as an effective index of morphologic complexity, should be a useful tool for the further study of extrinsic signals which might modify the generation or stabilization of dendrite form.