An Efficient Method for Culturing Schwann Cell in Vitro

Objective To introduce an efficient method for culturing and purifying Schwann cell in vitro. Methods Sciatic nerves and brachial plexus were harvested from two to three-day-old SD rats and epineuria was removed. Nerve tissues were disgested with high concentration enzyme following trituration and treated with cytosine arabinoside(Ara-c) for 3 days to eliminate fibroblasts after plating. Then the fibroblasts were futher removed by gradually reducing fetal bovine serum(FBS) in the culture medium. Cells were detached from the flask for subculture by incubation with surprisingly low concentration of enzyme. Results Approximally 4x106 cells were harvested with 98% survival rate and a purity of Schwann cells over 96% by modified method, however by traditional method, just 3x106 cells were gained with the purity being 90% and 92% survival rate . Conclusion This method yields large amount of viable Schwann cells with high purity and survival rate.