Phagocytotic activity of glial cells in culture

The phagocytotic activity of glial cells was tested in primary cultures of astrocytes and C6 glioma cultures. Latex bead uptake served as an index of the respective phagocytotic activity. The content of latex beads in glial cells continued to increase for 24 h and this increase could be inhibited by incubation in ice bath or treatment with cytochalasin B (CB) or D (CD) at 37 °C. Addition of brain extract reduced latex bead uptake, whereas the phagocytotic activity was not markedly influenced by serum withdrawal and/or db-cAMP addition, both of which are usually used to induce certain characteristics of differentiated glial cells. Our results support the hypothesis that astroglial cells may act as phagocytes in situations where ‘professional’ phagocytes are not so numerous. In addition, the results imply that the phagocytotic activity of glial cells also depends on environmental conditions.