Expression of neuron-specific enolase in cultured neurons from the fetal rat.

A specific antiserum to neuron-specific enolase (NSE), an isoenzyme of the glycolytic enzyme enolase, has been used to immunocytochemically study the differentiation of dissociated embryonic brain cells grown in serum-supplemented or serum-free (defined) medium for 4-28 days. The number of positively stained neurons increased with time up to 21 days in culture, irrespective of the medium composition. By day 14, the majority of neurons contained immunoreactive NSE in their cell bodies and fiber profiles. These data indicate that cultured embryonic neurons undergo differentiation in their serum-supplemented or serum-free medium, and that dissociated brain cell cultures may provide a model system for investigating cellular and molecular aspects of neuronal differentiation.