A STREPTOMYCES-FRADIAE PROTEASE DISSOCIATES STRUCTURALLY PRESERVED NEURONS AND GLIAL-CELLS FROM THE EMBRYONIC AND ADULT CENTRAL-NERVOUS-SYSTEM OF VERTEBRATES

Nerve cell dissociation has become a key procedural tool in the implem entation of a number of techniques in cellular and molecular neurobiol ogy. We report that a protease preparation from Streptomyces fradiae ( henceforth SF-protease) dissociates viable and morphologically identif iable embryonic and mature neurons and glial cells from the central ne rvous system of chick and rat, when used under strictly controlled con ditions. Typical dendritic and axonal growth cones, with their lamelli podia and filopodia, are seen in many neuroblast types - growth cones in the case of embryonic glial cells - and even the thinnest processes of some cells, such as the microvilli of adult chick retinal Muller ( glial) cells, or the cilia of photoreceptors appear intact. Our result s suggest that the SF-protease releases cells from tissue in a way tha t ensures the continuity of the plasma membrane and cuts through the t ransmembrane attachment systems (either cell-cell or cell-extracellula r matrix) without compromising the cytoskeletal integrity underlying n ative cell shape. (C) 1997 Elsevier Science B.V.