Survival and differentiation of purified embryonic chick retinal ganglion cells cultured at low density in a chemically defined medium.

Both, a tailored chemically defined nutrient medium (BP5) and a sandwich culture sustain the survival for more than a week and allow the differentiation of embryonic chick retinal ganglion cells (RGCs) seeded at low density. Purification of RGCs from 7-11-day old embryos was accomplished by panning using specific anti-chicken Thy-1 antibodies immobilized in plaques. Yield of RGCs was less than 1% of the calculated number of these cells in the used retinas. This result agrees with the scarce expression of Thy-1 in immature retina; accordingly, the most mature RGCs are those probably selected by the panning. This assumption obtained support on the expression of gangliotetraoxylgangliosides (GTOG), that characterize the differentiated retinal neurons. Thus, the outgrowth of processes observed in cultured cells, might imply axonal regeneration in mature neurons. This manageable RGC culture method approaches a system for studying the in vitro trophic factors and substrata which affect axonal regrowth in central nervous system cells.