[Ultrastructural plasticity in the hippocampus organotypic tissue culture]

Hippocampal cross sections of 7-9 day old rats were explanted onto semipermeable microporous membranes for 14-16 days followed by electron microscopic investigation. Besides the structures typical for adult hippocampus in vivo, substantial ultrastructural signs of metabolism and synaptic connections in explants were revealed: redistribution of polysomes and cisterns of granular endoplasmic reticulum, numerous pinocytotic invaginations, growth cones, somatic filopods, dotted (perforated) contacts, new formation of synapses and vacant postsynaptic sites. The data obtained indicate the active compensatory processes of plasticity, which ensure the maintenance of structure and function of hippocampal tissue in vitro.