title: Preparation of adult spinal cord motor neuron cultures under serum-free conditions.
abstract: Spinal cord motor neuron cultures are an important tool for the study of mechanisms involved in motor neuron survival, degeneration and regeneration, volatile anesthetic-induced immobility, motor neuron disorders such as amyotrophic lateral sclerosis or spinal muscular atrophy as well as in spinal cord injury. Embryonic spinal cord motor neurons derived from rats have been successfully cultured; unfortunately, the culture of adult motor neurons has been problematic due to their short-term survival. Recently, by using a cocktail of target-derived factors, neurotrophins (brain-derived neurotrophic factor and glial cell line-derived neurotrophic factor) and a permeable cyclic adenosine monophosphate analog, we have established a reproducible protocol for long-term cultures of healthy and functional adult motor neurons (Exp Neurol 220:303-315, 2009). Here, we now describe in detail the steps that we used for the optimization of the process of isolation and maintenance of adult rat ventral horn motor neurons in vitro.
authors.affiliation: Department of Anesthesiology, Langone Medical Center, New York University, New York, NY, USA. jose.montoya-gacharna@nyumc.org
authors.forename: Jose V
authors.initials: JV
authors.lastname: Montoya-Gacharna
authors.forename: Jhon Jairo
authors.initials: JJ
authors.lastname: Sutachan
authors.forename: Wai Si
authors.initials: WS
authors.lastname: Chan
authors.forename: Alexandra
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Sideris
authors.forename: Thomas J J
authors.initials: TJ
authors.lastname: Blanck
authors.forename: Esperanza
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Recio-Pinto
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D000870:Anterior Horn Cells / Q000166:cytology*; D018929:Cell Culture Techniques / Q000379:methods*; D002469:Cell Separation / Q000379:methods*; D000242:Cyclic AMP; D009414:Nerve Growth Factors; D051381:Rats; D013116:Spinal Cord / Q000166:cytology*
chemical_list: D009414:Nerve Growth Factors; D000242:Cyclic AMP