[Study of dissociated spinal cord cells by means of scanning electron microscopy]

Monolayer dissociated cultures of the spinal cord cells were investigated by scanning electron microscopy on the 12th-14th day of growth in vitro with low density of the cells (10(5) cells per 1 ml). Large cells with several radial branches were analyzed. As regards to the substrate, the cells were divided into two groups. The first one contained flattened cells whose poles formed thin sail-like sheets; such cells had also cylinder-shaped processes. The second group contained spherical cells with small area of contact with the substrate; the branches of such cells were cylindrical. The described cells are supposed to be of different functional nature.