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Glutamine synthetase induction in chick embryo retina monolayers
Cell Biophysics
|March 1, 1981
Summary
Cortisol induces glutamine synthetase (GS) in chick embryo retinas. Enzymatic cell dissociation methods impact GS induction, while cold storage enhances it in whole retinas.
Area of Science:
- Biochemistry
- Cell Biology
- Developmental Neuroscience
Background:
- Cortisol is known to induce glutamine synthetase (GS) in various cell types.
- Retinal cell cultures are used to study enzyme induction and cellular responses.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the induction of glutamine synthetase (GS) by cortisol in chick embryo retinal cells.
- To compare the effects of different cell dissociation methods on GS induction.
- To assess the impact of cold storage on GS activity and inducibility.
Main Methods:
- Enzymatic dissociation (papain, trypsin) and mechanical dispersion of chick embryo retinas.
- Culture of retinal cells into monolayers.
- Treatment with cortisol to induce GS.
- Measurement of basal and induced GS activity.
- Storage of whole retinas at 4°C before dissociation.
Main Results:
- Enzymatic dissociation yielded inducible monolayers, but cell aggregation occurred within 4-6 hours.
- Mechanical dispersion resulted in minimally inducible monolayers, likely due to poor cell viability.
- Storage at 4°C for 24 hours significantly increased basal GS activity and inducibility in whole retina cultures, but not in monolayer cultures.
Conclusions:
- The method of cell preparation significantly influences glutamine synthetase (GS) induction by cortisol in retinal cultures.
- Cell aggregation in enzymatically dissociated monolayers may affect inducibility.
- Cold storage is a viable method to enhance GS activity and inducibility in whole retina preparations prior to dissociation.