Although neuronal cell culture has been used for decades within neuroscience research, a long-standing challenge for scientists and researchers has been consistently obtaining viable neurons for experiments and keeping them maintained for long periods of time.
Previously, when using existing media systems, primary rodent neurons would typically only survive for about 14 days in vitro, and at that point their health was considerably degenerated. However, for primary rodent neurons, full functionality and maturation requires maintenance in vitro for approximately 21 days. This noticeable discrepancy between what was needed and what was actually available didn’t go unnoticed.
A Neuronal Cell Culture System Optimized for Primary Neuron Culture Applications
In order to help meet the increasing necessity for more reliable and biologically relevant models, Thermo Fisher Scientific’s legacy Gibco B-27 Supplement and Neurobasal Medium was improved to create the B-27 Plus Neuronal Culture System. Some of the upgrades made to the B-27 supplement included optimized formulation, improved manufacturing processes, and more stringent quality control for both raw materials and final product. With these enhancements, the new optimized B-27 Plus Neuronal Culture System now allows neuroscience researchers to experiment for longer periods of time with neurons that reside in a dish, look and function like neurons in the brain, and resist neuron degeneration.
Improved Neuronal Cell Culture Survival
Because cell survival rates are so essential to the success and reliability of neuroscience research, the B-27 Plus Neuronal Cell Culture System was specifically optimized for the maturation and viability of primary neurons (rat, mouse, and human pluripotent stem cell–derived) for long-term cultures at both low and high cell densities. When B-27 Plus Neuronal Cell Culture System was compared against other commercially available serum-free neuronal media systems and following the suppliers’ recommended protocols, neuronal cell survival increased by more than 50% with B-27 Plus system.
Prolonged Neuronal Cell Culture Health and Enhanced Maturation
It’s not just important to have neurons survive longer, researchers need the cells that do survive in long-term cultures to maintain electrical activity and demonstrate normal neuronal function, or in other words “stay healthy”. An independent evaluation by scientists at Axion BioSystems found that the B-27 Plus system facilitated stronger network maturation and electrophysiology activity relative to all alternative systems.
More Economical Production of Neuronal Cells
Both of the main observed improvements in the B-27 Plus Neuronal Cell Culture System – better in vitro survival rates of neuronal cells and prolonged neuronal cell health – allowed for more economical production of the same number of neurons when compared to other products, with no changes to current workflows. These improvements also allow for superior modeling of neurons and the ability to perform longer-term in vitro studies that recapitulate cellular structures and connections found in the brain.
With the major improvements made to the B-27 Plus system – improved neuronal survival, neurite outgrowth, and neuron functionality and maturation – researchers can now conduct more advanced neurodegenerative research, including evaluations of whether drug candidates have therapeutic potential against neurodegenerative diseases.
Want to improve the reliability of your experiments? Increase neuronal survival by more than 50% – try a sample of the B-27 Plus System today.
For Research Use Only. Not for use in diagnostic procedures. © 2018 Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. All rights reserved. All trademarks are the property of Thermo Fisher Scientific and its subsidiaries unless otherwise specified.
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