Effect of Added Gangliosides on the Development of Fetal Mouse Spinal Cord-Dorsal Root Ganglion Explants Cultured in a Chemically Defined Medium

Abstract

The use of organotypic fetal mouse spinal cord-dorsal root ganglion explants (SCDRG) as a model system for studying the development of selective interneuronal connections under in vitro conditions was pioneered in the early 1960’s (Crain, 1973). The medium used was serum-supplemented, however, and often contained embryo extracts. The location of the DRG afferent fiber terminals within the cord explants was determined both electrophysiologically and histologically using horseradish peroxidase (HRP) and was shown to be preferentially located within the dorsal regions of the cord (Crain et al., 1968; Crain and Peterson, 1981; Smalheiser et al., 1981). Moreover, SCDRG explants grown under these conditions extensively flatten and become virtually a monolayer of cells (Fig. 1A), leading to a general loss of cord cytoarchitecture which frequently makes it difficult to identify the different regions of the explant.