Expression of Neuronal Proteins in Cells from Normal Adult Rat Brain Propagated in Serial Culture

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Abstract
Cells have been cultured from the brains of 60-day-old rats and propagated through 12 passages. The cells contain the high and middle, but not low, molecular weight neurofilament subunits and neuron-specific enolase, demonstrated by immunoblotting and immunocytochemistry with redundant antibodies. The cells did not have the morphology of neurons when cultured in medium containing fetal calf serum and growth factors. In low serum medium containing the same growth factors with the addition of dibutyryl cyclic AMP, the cells became smaller and developed long processes. Three clonal lines derived from these cultures had the same properties. These observations are in agreement with recent observations using mouse and human brain tissue and demonstrate that proteins normally associated with neurons can be found in dividing cells cultured from the brains of young adult rats.