Primary Striatal Neuronal Culture - Drugs of Abuse: Neurological Reviews and Protocols - page 374

Fig. 1. Phase-contrast photomicrographs illustrating dynamic growth of primary rat
striatal cells at 1 h (A) , 6 d (B) , and 12 d (C) in culture. A vast majority of neuronal
cells with small (8-12 m) sized, phase-bright cell bodies

were typically seen in 12-d-old cultures. These neuronal cells show round and bipolar,
spindle and bipolar, triangular and tripolar or polygonal and multipolar shapes of cell
bodies with extensive processes. All neuronal cells were immunoreactive to a neuronal
specifi c marker microtubule-associated protein 2 (MAP2) as tested via fl uorescein
isothiocyanate (FITC) immunofl uorescent labeling (D) . Scale bar = 40

µ m) to medium (13-19 µ

µ m.

( Fig. 1 ). Neurons typically have a clear, centrally or eccentrically located nucleus
with one or two prominent nucleoli. The body margins are clearly defi ned as
round, spindle, triangular, or even polygonal. Bipolar or tripolar neurons are
more numerous than multipolar neurons. Other contaminating cells, such as
endothelial cells, ependymal cells, or fi broblasts, are rarely seen throughout
culturing.

4. To identify chemically phenotypes of cultured cells, single or multiple immuno-
fl uorescent labeling can be employed with phenotype-specifi c markers 12-14 d
after in culture ( Fig. 1D ). In our culture system, we were able to identify that
the predominant number of cells were -aminobutyric acid-ergic (GABAergic)

neurons. The rest is other types of neurons and non-neuronal cells, including