In vitro identification of dividing neuronal precursors from chick embryonic ciliary ganglion

In chick parasympathetic ciliary ganglion the neuronal birthdate is well de fined, between 2.5 and 5.5 days of embryonic development, and neuronal prec ursor cells that are able to differentiate into neurons in vitro can be iso lated from E4.5 ganglia. In this report, using bromodeoxyuridine incorporat ion and Map1b immunostaining, we demonstrate that these cells can be isolat ed from E7-E8 chick embryos as well, suggesting that neuronal precursor cel ls are still present in the ciliary ganglion after the end of the in vivo n eurogenesis. These precursor cells retain the ability to divide and generat e newly differentiated neurons in vitro when cultured in a chemically defin ed medium. Such a capacity is highly stimulated by bFGF but not by CNTF. Ne uroReport 11:1209-1212 (C) 2000 Lippincott Williams & Wilkins.