Polyamine uptake is necessary for a normal biochemical maturation of astrocytes in culture.

In this study we have explored the importance of polyamine uptake in the proliferation and biochemical maturation of cerebellar astroyctes in culture. The uptake of polyamines paralleled astrocyte proliferation measured as [3H]thymidine incorporation into the DNA. Inhibition of polyamine uptake did not alter the developmental profile of thymidine incorporation, perhaps due to a compensatory increase in ornithine decarboxylase activity but was able to reduce glutamine synthetase (GS) activity, an enzymatic marker for astrocyte biochemical maturation, from 9 days in vitro. The present results suggest that polyamine uptake plays an important role in the biochemical maturation of astrocytes in culture.