SEPARATION OF FUNCTIONAL SCHWANN-CELLS AND NEURONS FROM NORMAL PERIPHERAL-NERVE TISSUE

A method was devised for obtaining viable cultures of normal sensory neurons and normal Schwann cells from rat dorsal root ganglia, using cytosine arabinoside and fluorodeoxyuridine for control of non-neuronal cell proliferation. These cultures were used to demonstrate that Schwann cells could be generated and maintained in culture free of fibroblast contamination; that Schwann cells could exist in either a quiescent or proliferative state, depending on the absence of neurons; that sensory ganglia could be obtained that would provide an outgrowth of axons entirely free of non-neuronal cells even in the absence of antimitotic agents; and that quiescent Schwann cells, induced to proliferate by bare axons, could ensheath and in time myelinate some of these axons.