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Influence of factors secreted by Wobbler astrocytes on neuronal and motoneuronal survival
Author(s) -
AïtIkhlef A.,
HantazAmbroise D.,
Henderson C.E.,
Rieger F.
Publication year - 2000
Publication title -
journal of neuroscience research
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.72
H-Index - 160
eISSN - 1097-4547
pISSN - 0360-4012
DOI - 10.1002/(sici)1097-4547(20000101)59:1<100::aid-jnr12>3.0.co;2-5
Subject(s) - astrogliosis , astrocyte , biology , spinal cord , neuroscience , in vitro , neuron , interneuron , neuroglia , degeneration (medical) , microbiology and biotechnology , central nervous system , pathology , inhibitory postsynaptic potential , medicine , genetics
During late postnatal development, mice with the autosomal recessive wobbler mutation ( wr / wr ) develop motoneuron degeneration associated with astrogliosis in the spinal cord. In vitro, primary wobbler astrocytes are also affected, exhibiting abnormal cell–cell contacts. To characterize further the wobbler disease, we investigated the in vitro effects of wobbler astrocytes on primary neuronal cultures from the spinal cords of 15‐day‐old wild‐type mouse and rat embryos. Cocultures with the wobbler astrocytes, or direct addition of wobbler astrocyte‐conditioned medium, led to a decrease in neuron number in primary mixed neuronal cultures, containing motoneurons and interneuron‐like cells. In contrast, wobbler astrocyte‐conditioned medium enhanced survival of highly purified motoneurons. These in vitro results suggest the possibility that wobbler astrocytes act not on motoneurons directly but, rather, through other spinal neurons to induce motoneuron degeneration in the wobbler disease. J. Neurosci. Res. 59:100–106, 2000 © 2000 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.