GENERATION OF A RADIAL-LIKE GLIAL-CELL LINE

Rat C6 glioma is a cell line that has been used extensively as a model of astroglia. Although this cell line retains many of the properties of developing glia, it does not resemble morphologically the specializ ed form of glia found embryonically, the radial glia, In experiments d esigned to study a mutant farm of receptor protein tyrosine phosphatas e beta, we isolated a subclone of C6 called C6-R which, like radial gl ia, assumes a highly polarized radial-like morphology in culture. C6-R cells and, to a somewhat lesser extent, C6 cells, express cytoskeleta l proteins found in developing astroglia including glial fibrillary ac idic protein and RC1. As seen with radial glia, cerebellar granule cel l bodies and neurites migrated along radial processes of C6-R cells in culture. Morphological analysis of dye-labeled cells injected into th e developing forebrain revealed that a large fraction (similar to 60%) of the C6-R cells in the cortex assumed a radial orientation and abou t half of these (similar to 30%) made contact with the pial surface, I n contrast, the parental C6 cells generally formed aggregates and only displayed a radial alignment when associated with blood vessels. Thes e results suggest that we have generated a stable cell line from C6 gl ioma which has adopted certain key features of radial glia, including the ability to promote neuronal migration in culture and integrate rad ially in vivo in response to local cues. This cell line may be particu larly useful for studying receptors on radial glia that mediate neuron al migration. (C) 1998 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.