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Cultured dissociated primary dorsal root ganglion neurons from adult horses enable study of axonal transport.

Published version
Peer-reviewed

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Authors

Cahalan, Stephen 
Hopkins, Eleanor L 
Almuhanna, Abdulaziz 
Loreto, Andrea 

Abstract

Neurological disorders are prevalent in horses, but their study is challenging due to anatomic constraints and the large body size; very few host-specific in vitro models have been established to study these types of diseases, particularly from adult donor tissue. Here we report the generation of primary neuronal dorsal root ganglia (DRG) cultures from adult horses: the mixed, dissociated cultures, containing neurons and glial cells, remained viable for at least 90 days. Similar to DRG neurons in vivo, cultured neurons varied in size, and they developed long neurites. The mitochondrial movement was detected in cultured cells and was significantly slower in glial cells compared to DRG-derived neurons. In addition, mitochondria were more elongated in glial cells than those in neurons. Our culture model will be a useful tool to study the contribution of axonal transport defects to specific neurodegenerative diseases in horses as well as comparative studies aimed at evaluating species-specific differences in axonal transport and survival.

Description

Funder: UK Horserace Betting Levy Board

Keywords

DRG, axonal transport, equine, mitochondria, neurodegenerative diseases, Animals, Axonal Transport, Cells, Cultured, Ganglia, Spinal, Horses, Neurites, Neurons

Journal Title

J Anat

Conference Name

Journal ISSN

0021-8782
1469-7580

Volume Title

Publisher

Wiley