Postmortem survival characteristics of rat glial cells in culture.

Cell-type-specific markers and indirect immunofluorescence were used to determine the longest time interval between death of the animal and removal of tissues that permitted growth in vitro of rat central glial cells. Galactocerebroside+ oligodendrocytes could not be cultured after more than 1 hour had elapsed, whereas small numbers of glial fibrillary acidic protein (GFAP)+ astrocytes and GFAP- fibroblastic cells could still be cultured for as long as 6-7 hours after death. These observations may reflect a greater susceptibility of oligodendrocytes to anoxia compared with astrocytes and fibroblasts.