General Considerations for Live Imaging of Developing Hippocampal Neurons in Culture
Adapted from Imaging in Developmental Biology (ed. Sharpe and Wong). CSHL Press, Cold Spring Harbor, NY, USA, 2011.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.
- © 2012 Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory Press
