Primary cultures from rat dorsal root ganglia: responses of neurons and glial cells to somatosensory or inflammatory stimulation

Publication date: Available online 18 October 2018Source: NeuroscienceAuthor(s): Stephan Leisengang, Daniela Ott, Jolanta Murgott, Rüdiger Gerstberger, Christoph Rummel, Joachim RothAbstractPrimary cultures of rat dorsal root ganglia (DRG) consist of neurons, satellite glial cells and a moderate number of macrophages. Measurements of increased intracellular calcium [Ca2+]i induced by stimuli, have revealed that about 70% of DRG neurons are capsaicin-responsive nociceptors, while 10% responded to cooling and or menthol (putative cold-sensors). Cultivation of DRG in the presence of a moderate dose of lipopolysaccharide (LPS, 1µg/ml) enhanced capsaicin-induced Ca2+-signals. We therefore investigated further properties of DRG primary cultures stimulated with 10µg/ml LPS for a short period. Exposure to LPS for 2 h resulted in pronounced release of tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF- α) and interleukin-6 (IL-6) into the supernatants of DRG cultures, increased expression of both cytokines in the DRG cells and increased TNF-immunoreactivity predominantly in macrophages. We further observed an accumulation of the inflammatory transcription factors NF-IL6 and STAT3 in the nuclei of LPS-exposed DRG neurons and macrophages. In the presence of the cytotoxic agent cisplatin (5 or 10 µg/ml), the number of macrophages was decreased significantly, the growth of satellite glial cells was markedly suppressed, but the vitality and stimulus-induced Ca2+-signals of DRG neurons were not impaired. U...
Source: Neuroscience - Category: Neuroscience Source Type: research