In-vitro Primary Culture and Identification of Hippocampal Neurons from Newborn Rats

Objective To establish a simple method for the primary culture of hippocampal neurons of newborn rats.Methods Hippocampal neurons of rats born within 24 hours were isolated by the method of trypsin digestion combining with mechanical dispersion,then were planted in the medium containing 10 % fetal bovine serum,and were given maintenance feeding with serum-free medium.Identification of neurons and its purity were conducted by neural microtubule-associated protein(Map-2)method.Results The structures of nerve cells were clear and integral,and the purity of the neurons was up to 85.71 % after culturing for 8 days.Conclusion Unnecessary to strictly control the digestion time or to use the Ara-C for purifying the cells,neurons with good condition and high purity can be obtained by the established method.