Neuron-specific enolase levels in primary cultures of neurons.

Primary neuronal cell cultures, derived by centrifugal elutriation of cells dissociated from embryonic rat cerebra, have been analyzed for their content of neuron-specific enolase (NSE) and non-neuronal enolase (NNE). Both immunocytochemical staining and radioimmunoassay establish that NSE is present in these cells. Furthermore, the observed increase in NSE and decrease in the NNE/NSE ratio with time in culture parallels that observed in vivo. It has recently been shown that during in vivo neurogenesis and maturation a "switch over" occurs from NNE to NSE which correlates with neuronal differentiation. The presence of a neuron-specific protein in these primary neuronal cultures and the changes observed during growth further support their use as a model system for the study of nervous tissue differentiation.