Fig. 3.

Adult DRGs grow poorly on beds of NG2-expressing Schwann cells. Left panel: normal adult rat sciatic nerve Schwann cells were maintained in culture and transfected with a full-length NG2 cDNA under control of the CMV promoter (pcDNA3.1). Both populations of Schwann cells express p75, the low-affinity neurotrophin receptor, but only the transfected cells express immunodetectable NG2. Right panel: adult rat DRG neurons were plated on the living Schwann cells and allowed to grow for 40 h and then stained with anti-βIII tubulin antibodies. Normal Schwann cells support extensive neurite growth: growth on the NG2-expressing Schwann cells was poor.