Effect of serum on activity of cultures in cerebral cortical astrocytes

Primary cultures of astrocytes had made important contributions to understanding of astrocytic functions, especially the complex cross-talk to neurons. The purpose of this study is to determinate the effect of the serum concentration on the proliferation of astrocytes. Astrocytes are responsible for antioxidant defense, thus, the model of 50 µmol/L H2O2 was applied in primary astrocyte cultures. Cell viability was tested by MTT assay. We observed that there was no difference in the cell viability of the third generation mature astrocytes with different concentrations of serum. However, the astrocytes viability of serum free was significantly lower than other serum groups as the presence of H2O2, suggesting that appropriate concentration of serum in primary astrocytes is essential to improve the stability and accuracy based on the special purpose of experiment.