T Tan, AD Ansselin, DF Davey
The hypothesis that nerves influence the expression of receptors on Schwann cells and neurons derived from dorsal root ganglia. The changes in intracellular calcium triggered by superfused neuroligands in Schwann cells contacted by neurons was compared to the responses in uncontacted Schwann cells. The range of receptors expressed by the Schwann cells was reduced in the contacted cells, frequently to only ATP receptors and those for one other ligand. The preliminary interpretation is that the Schwann cells become specialized to respond to a ligand derived from the neuron they contact.