Simultaneous expression of neuronal and glial properties by chick ciliary ganglion cells during development

Autoradiographic methods were used to show that non-neuronal cells from dissociated chick ciliary ganglia grown in cell culture for 1 day exhibit high affinity uptake for norepinephrine (NE) and/or specific receptors for nerve growth factor (NGF). Using immunofluorescence procedures, it was demonstrated that these cells reacted neither with the neuron-specific marker tetanus toxin nor with antibodies to the fibroblast marker fibronectin. The cells were, however, positive for 04 antigen, which is present on Schwann cells and oligodendrocytes and is recognized by a monoclonal antibody (Schachner, M., S. K. KIm, and R. Zehnle (1981) Dev. Biol. 83: 328-338). At all stages studied between embryonic day 6 (E6) and embryonic day 14 (E14), about 80% of the non-neuronal cells were positive for 04 antigen, the other non-neuronal cells being identified as fibroblasts or fibroblast-like cells by staining with antibodies to fibronectin. The proportion of cells with NGF receptors and cells with NE uptake decreased during development between E6 and E14. The percentage of 04-positive cells which have NGF receptors decreased from about 95% at E6 to about 35% at E14. The proportion of 04-positive cells with NE uptake decreased from about 57% at E6 to about 15% at E14. Thus, a considerable proportion of the non-neuronal cell population in embryonic ciliary ganglia displays neuronal properties. We suggest that those cells exhibiting biochemical properties of both differentiated glial cells and neurons are precursor cells which have the potential to develop either into glial cells or neurons.