ABSTRACT
We measured the concentration of neurotransmitters in immortalized neural cell lines of hippocampal, septal, brainstem and cerebellar origin. While in most of the cell lines, concentrations of monoamines, gamma-aminobutyric acid (GABA) and acetylcholine were low, in some they were markedly higher. This made it quite easy to identify possible monoaminergic, GABAergic or cholinergic cell lines. However all the cell lines contained glutamate and aspartate and there were no outstanding differences in levels of these amino acids differences between the cell lines. Deprivation of serum, which made the cells acquire a more differentiated morphology, caused an increase in the intracellular concentrations of some compounds and a switch from multiple to a single transmitter in the case of some cell lines. It suggested that measurement of transmitter concentrations combined with serum deprivation studies, may provide an indication of the neurochemical characteristics of immortalised neuronal cell lines.
Subject(s)
Brain/cytology , Cell Transformation, Neoplastic , Neurons/cytology , Neurons/metabolism , Neurotransmitter Agents/metabolism , Acetylcholine/metabolism , Aging , Animals , Animals, Newborn , Aspartic Acid/metabolism , Brain/growth & development , Cell Line, Transformed , Cells, Cultured , Cerebellum/cytology , Cerebellum/growth & development , Culture Media, Serum-Free , Dopamine/metabolism , Genes, myc , Glutamic Acid/metabolism , Hippocampus/cytology , Hippocampus/growth & development , Hybrid Cells , Mice , Neuroblastoma , Norepinephrine/metabolism , PC12 Cells , Rats , Rhombencephalon/cytology , Rhombencephalon/growth & development , Serotonin/metabolism , gamma-Aminobutyric Acid/metabolismABSTRACT
We have developed and tested a new way of typing Trypanosoma cruzi, namely the use of cloned nuclear DNA fragments as genetic markers. Restriction fragment length polymorphisms were verified on Southern blots hybridized to random probes. Fragment patterns were analyzed and dendrograms constructed. Our results on well characterized laboratory strains correlate well to published isoenzyme studies. Some of the probes were also hybridized to chromosomes separated by pulse field gel electrophoresis and a higher degree of heterogeneity was observed at this level.
