title: A new in vitro injury model of mouse neurons induced by mechanical scratching.
abstract: The mixed culture of neurons and glial cells has been widely used as a mechanical insult model for the study of neuron injury in vitro. However, a better model is desirable to eliminate the interference of glial cells during the study. Here we report a new model with exclusive cerebellar granule neurons (CGNs), which can be used for the study of in vitro neuron injury without involvement of glial cells. We found that after scratching insult, there was a decrease in both the survival rate and vitality of injured CGNs. Meanwhile, pathological changes were observed by electron microscopy. With this new model, we also tested the effects of neurotrophin-3 (NT-3) on neuroprotection. The result showed that the vitality of injured CGNs was enhanced by the administration of NT-3. These findings demonstrate that this new model is useful for investigation of the precise effect of mechanical damage on neurons excluding other factors, and to detect the neuroprotective effect of certain factors on mechanically injured neurons.
authors.affiliation: Key Laboratory for Stem Cells and Tissue Engineering (Sun Yat-sen University), Ministry of Education, 74# Zhongshan 2nd Road, Guangzhou 510080, China.
authors.forename: Yuan-Huan
authors.initials: YH
authors.lastname: Ma
authors.forename: Xiang
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Zeng
authors.forename: Ke
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.forename: Yuan-Shan
authors.initials: YS
authors.lastname: Zeng
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D017209:Apoptosis / Q000187:drug effects; D018929:Cell Culture Techniques; D002470:Cell Survival / Q000187:drug effects; D002478:Cells, Cultured; D002531:Cerebellum / Q000293:injuries / Q000473:pathology; D051379:Mice; D008810:Mice, Inbred C57BL; D008954:Models, Biological; D009474:Neurons / Q000187:drug effects / Q000473:pathology* / Q000648:ultrastructure; D018696:Neuroprotective Agents / Q000494:pharmacology; D020933:Neurotrophin 3 / Q000494:pharmacology; D013314:Stress, Mechanical
chemical_list: D018696:Neuroprotective Agents; D020933:Neurotrophin 3