Electron cytochemical study of carbohydrate components in cultured nerve and glial cells of the snail Helix pomatia

• 1.1. A variety of colloidal gold-labelled lectins with different sugar specificities to determine whether different nerve and glial cells of the snail Helix pomatia cultured in vitro, can be distinguished by the carbohydrates that they express was screened. The analysis of lectin binding has shown substantial differences in the carbohydrate pattern between nerve and glial cells and between the soma of monoaminergic and peptidergic neurons.
• 2.2. The surface of monoaminergic and peptidergic neurons contains N-acetylglucosamine and N-acetyllactosamine determinants, and does not exhibit neuraminic acid and complex branched N-glycosyl chains. Moreover, N-acetylgalactosamine can be detected on peptidergic neuron membranes only.
• 3.3. N-Acetylglucosamine residues are not present on the surface of the glial cells, and the density of the N-acetyllactosamine and/or terminal β-galactose residues is much higher here than on the surface of the nerve cells.
• 4.4. These results suggest that nerve cells in the snail brain can be distinguished from glial cells by the presence of a cell-surface glycoconjugate containing terminal N-acetyl-d-glucosamine residues, whereas peptidergic neurons can be distinguished from monoaminergic neurons by the presence of a surface glycoconjugate containing terminal α-linked N-acetyl-d-galactosamine residues.