Ex Vivo Slice Culture
Ex Vivo Slice Culture - Related Videos
04:29
Ex Vivo Culture and Imaging of Oculomotor Slices from Transgenic Mouse Embryos
0 Views •
2025
This video demonstrates the ex vivo culture and imaging of oculomotor slices from transgenic mouse embryos. The embryos are isolated and embedded in agarose. Using a vibratome, slices containing the oculomotor nuclei and eyes are obtained. The slices are maintained in culture and imaged using a fluorescence microscope.
10:02
Ex Vivo Culture of Chick Cerebellar Slices and Spatially Targeted Electroporation of Granule Cell Precursors
0 Views •
Cited by 4 •
2015
The cerebellar external granule layer is the site of the largest transit amplification in the developing brain. Here, we present a protocol to target genetic modification to this layer at the peak of proliferation using ex vivo electroporation and culture of cerebellar slices from embryonic Day 14 chick embryos.
08:20
Organotypic Hippocampal Slice Cultures
0 Views •
Cited by 52 •
2011
We describe a method to prepare organotypic hippocampal slices that can be easily adapted to other brain regions. Brain slices are laid on porous membranes and culture media is allowed to form an interface. This method preserves the gross architecture of the hippocampus for up to 2 weeks in culture.
08:52
Organotypic Slice Cultures for Studies of Postnatal Neurogenesis
0 Views •
Cited by 2 •
2015
Here we describe a technique for studying hippocampal postnatal neurogenesis using the organotypic slice culture technique. This method allows for in vitro manipulation of adult neurogenesis and allows for the direct application of pharmacological agents to the cultured hippocampus.
11:16
Preparation and Culture of Chicken Auditory Brainstem Slices
0 Views •
Cited by 17 •
2011
The chicken auditory brainstem is comprised of nuclei responsible for binaural sound processing. A single coronal slice preparation maintains the entire circuitry while the cultured approach provides a unique preparation to study the development of neuronal structure and auditory function at the molecular, cellular and network levels.
FAQs
Neural slice viability depends on a controlled nutrient medium together with regulated temperature, oxygenation, and osmolarity. These conditions support the continued survival of neurons and glial cells after tissue isolation. Maintaining them is important because experimental observations of synaptic transmission, circuit activity, or cellular responses require the preparation to remain physiologically usable during the study.
Because the tissue remains organized as a slice, many native cellular relationships and local neural connections are retained. This arrangement allows researchers to study interactions within a circuit rather than examining isolated cells alone. At the same time, the preparation offers more experimental access and manipulation than intact tissue in the organism, providing an intermediate model between those two approaches.
Neurons and glial cells remain present together in the preparation, allowing experiments to examine communication between neural and non-neural cells. This cellular combination can add context to measurements of synaptic transmission, neuronal circuits, development, or injury responses. Findings therefore reflect interactions within preserved tissue rather than responses from neurons considered independently of their surrounding cellular environment.
Researchers begin with freshly isolated tissue, produce thin sections, and place those slices in a controlled nutrient medium. The preparation is then maintained under regulated temperature, oxygenation, and osmolarity conditions so cells remain viable for study. Once established, the slices can undergo imaging, electrophysiology, or molecular assays, depending on the experimental question.
Brain and spinal cord slices support several complementary measurements. Imaging can visualize cellular or tissue-level features, electrophysiology can examine electrical activity and synaptic transmission, and molecular assays can assess cellular responses. Using these approaches on the same type of preparation gives researchers access to functional, structural, and molecular information within preserved neural tissue.
This preparation is useful when the research question depends on native tissue organization or local connections, but requires more experimental control than an intact organism permits. It supports studies of synaptic transmission, neuronal circuits, development, injury responses, and interactions between neural and non-neural cells. The method therefore connects circuit-level biology with controlled laboratory manipulation.
Slices provide accessible tissue in which researchers can examine developmental processes and responses to injury while retaining much of the local cellular organization. Imaging, electrophysiology, and molecular assays can be directed toward these questions. The resulting observations can link changes in cells and connections to broader tissue responses, while avoiding the complete reduction of the system to isolated cells.