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Preparation of Normal and Reactive Astrocyte Cultures

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Book cover Protocols for Neural Cell Culture

Part of the book series: Springer Protocols Handbooks ((SPH))

Abstract

Here, we describe methods to prepare primary cultures of astrocytes and reactive astrocytes. In 1980, McCarthy and de Vellis reported that highly purified cultures of astrocytes and oligodendrocytes can be obtained from neonatal brain tissue. The primary glial cultures prepared with this method have the great advantage of being devoid of neurons, enabling the analysis of astrocytes and oligodendrocytes separately. This culture model has been extensively used to advance our knowledge in the field of glial biology in normal conditions and after injury. The purification of astrocytes from primary mixed glial cultures, protocols that apply two types of mechanical injury (the scratch-wound model and the pressure-stretch model), as well as neuron-glial co-cultures are described in detail. These in vitro models, albeit limited by design, are invaluable tools to better understand the cellular and molecular mechanisms of astrocyte reactivity, scar formation and axonal growth inhibition in response to trauma.

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Mental Retardation Research Center, Semel Institute for Neuroscience and Human Behavior, David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA, Neuroscience Research Building, Los Angeles, CA, USA

    Jean de Vellis, Cristina A. Ghiani, Ina B. Wanner & Ruth Cole

Authors
  1. Jean de Vellis
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  2. Cristina A. Ghiani
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  3. Ina B. Wanner
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  4. Ruth Cole
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Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Dept. Pathology & Molecular Medicine, McMaster University, Main Street West 1200, Hamilton, L8N 3Z5, Canada

    Laurie C. Doering

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© 2009 Humana Press, a part of Springer Science+Business Media, LLC

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de Vellis, J., Ghiani, C.A., Wanner, I.B., Cole, R. (2009). Preparation of Normal and Reactive Astrocyte Cultures. In: Doering, L. (eds) Protocols for Neural Cell Culture. Springer Protocols Handbooks. Humana Press. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-60761-292-6_11

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-60761-292-6_11

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  • Publisher Name: Humana Press

  • Print ISBN: 978-1-60761-291-9

  • Online ISBN: 978-1-60761-292-6

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