Long-term cultures of human adult Schwann cells isolated from autopsy materials.

Enriched populations of adult human Schwann cells were obtained from trigeminal ganglia and roots of autopsy material. The cells, isolated by enzymatic procedure, were seeded on rat tail collagen-coated coverslips. Subcultures were established several weeks later, and secondary cells were grown on polylysine-coated coverslips and maintained in vitro for as long as 5 months. The Schwann cells in culture displayed the same light- and electron-microscopic features and arrangement as those cells observed in vivo. The addition of bovine pituitary glial growth factor in the medium induced a 3-5-fold increase in Schwann cell division.