Abstract
Although rodent models have been essential to unveil the emerging functions of astrocytes, the existence of interspecies differences calls for caution in extrapolating data from rodent to human astrocytes. We have developed highly enriched primary astrocyte cultures from human fetuses and adult cerebro-cortical biopsies from neurosurgery patients. Immunocytochemical characterization shows that cultures are composed of more than 95% of cells expressing in vitro astrocytic markers. Examination of the morphological and proliferative properties of cultures derived from the cerebral cortex and the hypothalamus both in untreated conditions and after treatment with EGF-related ligands illustrates the high plasticity of human astrocytes and their functional heterogeneity according to the cerebral region of origin. Our preparation offers the opportunity to characterize human astrocyte functions in vitro and also provides a valuable tool for studying the functional heterogeneity of human astrocytes isolated from distinct brain regions.
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Acknowledgments
We thank Pr. Serge Blond and Dr. Marc Baroncini from the Neurosurgery clinic (CHRU de Lille, Hôpital Roger Salengro, Lille, France) for giving us access to adult human cerebral cortex biopsies and Pr. Francis Collier from the gynecologic department (CHRU de Lille, Hôpital Jeanne-de-Flandre, Lille,  France) for giving us access to human fetuses. We are grateful to Dr. Heintz for his generous gift of BLBP antibody. We thank Anne Loyens for expert technical help. This research was supported by Inserm Grants U816 and U837, the University of Lille 2, the Institut National du Cancer (INCa, grant PL58; Coordinator: Pierre Formstecher), the Region Nord Pas de Calais (Coordinator: Pierre Formstecher), the Agence National pour la Recherche (ANR, France to VP), the Fondation pour la Recherche Médicale (Equipe FRM, France to VP), and the Imaging Core of IFR114. Ariane Sharif was a postdoctoral fellow supported by the Région Nord Pas de Calais (2-year grant), the FRM (2-year grant), and the Fondation de France (1-year grant).
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Sharif, A., Prevot, V. (2012). Isolation and Culture of Human Astrocytes. In: Milner, R. (eds) Astrocytes. Methods in Molecular Biology, vol 814. Humana Press. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-61779-452-0_11
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-61779-452-0_11
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