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Peptidergic neurons of the crab, Cardisoma carnifex, in defined culture maintain characteristic morphologies under a variety of conditions

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Summary

Peptidergic neurons dissociated from the neurosecretory cell group, the X-organ, of adult crabs (Cardisoma carnifex) show immediate outgrowth on unconditioned plastic dishes in defined medium. Most of the neurons can be categorized as small cells, branchers or veilers. A fourth type, “superlarge,” found occasionally, has a soma diameter greater than 40 μm and multipolar outgrowth. We report here the effects on morphology that follow alterations of the standard defined culturing conditions. The three common types of neurons are present when cells are grown in crab saline or saline with l-glutamine and glucose (saline medium). Changes of pH between 7.0 to 7.9 have no effect. Osmolarity changes cause transient varicosities in small cells. In some veilers, pits rapidly appear in the veil and then disappear within 35 min. In cultures at 26° C instead of 22° C, veilers extend processes from the initial veil in a pattern similar to branchers, and the processes of adjacent veilers sometimes form appositions. Culturing in higher [K+]o medium ([K+]o=15–110 mM; standard=11 mM) has no long-term effect, but growth is arrested by [K+]o greater than 30 mM. Cultures were also grown in media in which [Ca2+]o ranged from 0.1 μM to 26 mM (standard=13 mM). Outgrowth occured from all neuronal types in all [Ca2+]o tested. Thus, the expression of different outgrowth morphologies occurs under a wide variety of culturing conditions.

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  1. Békésy Laboratory of Neurobiology and Department of Zoology, University of Hawai, 1993 East-West Road, 96822, Honolulu, HI, USA

    Susan M. Grau & Ian M. Cooke

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  1. Susan M. Grau
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  2. Ian M. Cooke
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Grau, S.M., Cooke, I.M. Peptidergic neurons of the crab, Cardisoma carnifex, in defined culture maintain characteristic morphologies under a variety of conditions. Cell Tissue Res 270, 303–317 (1992). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00328016

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