Abstract
Organotypic slices cultured for weeks in vitro represent an extremely valuable strategy for the investigation of the long-term properties of neuronal circuits under physiological and pathological conditions. Here, we describe how to prepare rat organotypic hippocampal slice cultures and how to expose them for appropriate periods of time to excitotoxic agents or to oxygen and glucose deprivation conditions, in order to mimic the pattern of pyramidal cell damage which is observed in vivo and in other in vitro models. This preparation is very useful not only to study synaptic plasticity or the pathways and mechanisms of neurodegeneration but also to evaluate the effects of neuroprotective agents.
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Acknowledgements
This work was supported by grants from the University of Florence, the Italian Ministry of University and Research (MIUR, PRIN 2008 project), and the Compagnia di San Paolo (Turin, Italy).
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Gerace, E., Landucci, E., Scartabelli, T., Moroni, F., Pellegrini-Giampietro, D.E. (2012). Rat Hippocampal Slice Culture Models for the Evaluation of Neuroprotective Agents. In: Skaper, S. (eds) Neurotrophic Factors. Methods in Molecular Biology, vol 846. Humana Press. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-61779-536-7_29
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-61779-536-7_29
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