Abstract: The morphological changes of cultured bovine chromaffin cells were observed and the dopamine secreted was determined by HPLC to explore the feasibility of gene therapy with adrenal medulla cell transplantation. Results: The chromaffin cells in suspension culture, aggregated in round shape all the time and could secrete dopamine, and were still alive after resuscitation from cryopreservation; the adhesion cells showed round shape first, then stretched out short processes, turned in to shapes as triangle, fusiform, and polygon et al and restored to round shape after a week of culture. The HPLC results showed that the dopamine content arrived at the peak at about 5～6 days of culture. Adrenal chromaffin cell is a valuable source that can be used for gene therapy.

Key words: chromaffin cell, bovine, culture, dopamine