Stage-dependent spontaneous frog dorsal root ganglion neuritogenesis on polylysine in vitro

Dorsal root ganglia of larval frog extended elaborate neuritic arrays in vitro under minimal culture conditions in the absence of medium-supplemented stimulatory factors. The highly adhesive attachment substratum polylysine provided the necessary condition for exuberant outgrowth, the extent of which was dependent on the developmental stage of the animal from which the neural tissue was derived, as was the capability for long-term survival. It appears that an appropriate substratum can substitute for added growth factors in eliciting robust and long-lived sensory neurites in vitro.