Morphological Characterization of Gecko's (Eublepharis macularius) Glial Cells in Culture

Central nervous system of reptiles has the ability to grow and regenerate during adult life of the animal. Therefore, cells creating CNS of this animal class should compound substances or molecules enabling neuroregeneration. Cells directly involved in this process have not been clearly characterized, especially in cell culture environment. Morphology of reptilian glial adherent cells should be known better to find any differences from mammalian CNS cells. We isolated glial cells from olfactory bulb and cerebrum from gecko (Eublepharis macularius) and cultured separately. We have observed populations of cells with proliferative capacity in both types of cultures. Also, we have detected lipid molecules deposits within their cytoplasm, which localization was correlated with mitochondria position. This information can be helpful in searching new bioactive substances involved in regeneration of central nervous system.