Prolonged survival of bovine adrenal chromaffin cells in rat cerebral ventricles.

Dispersed, cultured bovine adrenal chromaffin cells transplanted into the cerebral ventricles of neonatal and adult rats survived at least 2 mo without evidence of immunological rejection. The cells can be identified by their strong yellow fluorescent reaction with glyoxylic acid, which suggests that they maintain intact the capability of synthesizing and storing catecholamines. The cells did not show sprouting or process formation and appeared to be free in the ventricle or aggregated in clusters. This shows that cells from different animal species and from different tissue origins can be transplanted and can survive in the cerebral ventricles.