Rat Motor-area Brain Slice Culture

Chun-Yan Li*, Xiang-Jian Xiao¹, Xue-Qin Song, Wei-Gang Liu, Min Li, Zheng Ma

( Department of Neurology, the Second Hospital, Hebei Medical University, Shijiazhuang 050000, China; ¹Department of Rehabilitation, Heibei Provincial People抯 Hospital, Shijiazhuang 050051, China )

Abstract:Brain slice cultures were prepared using brains from 1-day-old rat pups. Pyramidal cells?survival was evaluated by anti-nonphosphorylated neurofilament H (SMI-32) immunohistochemistry staining. Compared the pyramidal cells with those in vivo, lactate dehydrogenase (LDH) level in culture mediums were also measured. The brain explants could be maintained in culture for more than 1 month with excellent form and a stable population of cortical pyramidal cells in layer Ⅴ. The level of LDH at different culture times had no significant differences. Rat brain slice cultures and identification of pyramidal cells provided an effective method to study the diseases involved in the cortical motor neuron.

Key words: brain slice; pyramidal cell; nonphosphorylated neurofilament H

This work was supported by the Natural Science Foundation of Hebei Province (No.303487)

*Corresponding author. Tel: 86-311-7222725, Fax: 86-311-7064024, E-mail: xiaoxiangjian1973@yahoo.com.cn