Neuron Glia Biology

Table of Contents - November 2010 - Volume 6, Issue 04  

Research Article

Phenotypic changes in satellite glial cells in cultured trigeminal ganglia

Vitali Belzera1, Nathanael Shraera1 and Menachem Hanania1 c1

a1 Laboratory of Experimental Surgery, Hadassah-Hebrew University Medical Center, Mount Scopus, Jerusalem 91240, Israel

Abstract

Satellite glial cells (SGCs) are specialized cells that form a tight sheath around neurons in sensory ganglia. In recent years, there is increasing interest in SGCs and they have been studied in both intact ganglia and in tissue culture. Here we studied phenotypic changes in SGCs in cultured trigeminal ganglia from adult mice, containing both neurons and SGCs, using phase optics, immunohistochemistry and time-lapse photography. Cultures were followed for up to 14 days. After isolation virtually every sensory neuron is ensheathed by SGCs, as in the intact ganglia. After one day in culture, SGCs begin to migrate away from their parent neurons, but in most cases the neurons still retain an intact glial cover. At later times in culture, there is a massive migration of SGCs away from the neurons and they undergo clear morphological changes, and at 7 days they become spindle-shaped. At one day in culture SGCs express the glial marker glutamine synthetase, and also the purinergic receptor P2X7. From day 2 in culture the glutamine synthetase expression is greatly diminished, whereas that of P2X7 is largely unchanged. We conclude that SGCs retain most of their characteristics for about 24 h after culturing, but undergo major phenotypic changes at later times.

Keywords

Correspondence:

c1 Correspondence should be addressed to: Menachem Hanani, Ph.D., Laboratory of Experimental Surgery, Hadassah University Hospital, Mount Scopus, Jerusalem 91240, Israel phone: +972-2-5844721 fax: +972-2-5823515 email: hananim@cc.huji.ac.il