title: General considerations for live imaging of developing hippocampal neurons in culture.
abstract: Dissociated cell cultures of the rodent hippocampus have become a standard model for studying many facets of neural development, including the development of polarity, axonal and dendritic growth, and synapse formation. The cultures are quite homogeneous--∼90% of the cells are pyramidal neurons--and it is relatively easy to express green fluorescent protein (GFP)-tagged proteins by transfection. This article describes the cultures and the key features of the system used to image them. It also includes suggestions on labeling cells with GFP-tagged proteins. It concludes with a discussion of the advantages and disadvantages of this culture system.
authors.forename: Stefanie
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Kaech
authors.forename: Chun-Fang
authors.initials: CF
authors.lastname: Huang
authors.forename: Gary
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Banker
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D002478:Cells, Cultured; D003584:Cytological Techniques / Q000379:methods*; D006624:Hippocampus / Q000166:cytology*; D051379:Mice; D008856:Microscopy, Fluorescence / Q000379:methods; D009474:Neurons / Q000502:physiology*; D051381:Rats; D059008:Time-Lapse Imaging / Q000379:methods