Chapter 13 - Cell Culture Techniques

Abstract

This chapter surveys the cell culture approach to studying the brain. There are various equipment and reagents that are necessary to maintain cells outside their endogenous environments including biosafety hood, cell incubator, treated cell culture flasks/plates, and water bath. Further, growth media is also critical to cell culture experiments, supplying nutrients (amino acids and vitamins), and a source of energy (glucose) for cells. There are three categories of cells used in culture experiments: immortalized cell lines, primary cell cultures, and stem cells. Immortalized cell lines are the cells that have been manipulated to proliferate indefinitely and can thus be cultured for long periods of time. These are derived from a variety of sources that have chromosomal abnormalities or mutations that permit them to continually divide, such as tumors. Primary cell and tissue culture uses tissue removed directly from a living animal rather than immortalized cells that continuously divide in a dish. Primary tissue culture allows scientists to directly investigate cells of interest, probing the functions of specific neuronal or glial subtypes and the cellular and molecular dynamics specific to certain cell types. They are like immortalized cell lines in that they should theoretically be able to be propagated in culture continuously, but they are also primary cells derived directly from a living organism. Stem cells are characterized through gene and protein marker expression as well as function.