Cerebellum plus locus coeruleus in tissue culture: I. Catecholamine histofluorescence and extracellular electrophysiology.

Neonatal mouse cerebellar cultures with incorporated dorsal pons contained groups of catecholamine histofluorescent locus coeruleus neurons that projected axons to cerebellar cortical regions. Electrical stimulation of local areas of the dorsal pontine fragments evoked complex inhibitory extracellular cortical responses that resembled cerebellar cortical responses to locus coeruleus stimulation in vivo. The apparent structural and functional integrity of the coeruleo-cerebellar system in tissue culture indicates that this model might reasonably be used for biochemical studies of catecholamine development and metabolism.