The Indirect Neuron-astrocyte Coculture Assay: An In Vitro Set-up for the Detailed Investigation of Neuron-glia Interactions

Summary

This protocol describes the indirect neuron-astrocyte coculture for compartmentalized analysis of neuron-glia interactions.

Abstract

Proper neuronal development and function is the prerequisite of the developing and the adult brain. However, the mechanisms underlying the highly controlled formation and maintenance of complex neuronal networks are not completely understood thus far. The open questions concerning neurons in health and disease are diverse and reaching from understanding the basic development to investigating human related pathologies, e.g., Alzheimer's disease and Schizophrenia. The most detailed analysis of neurons can be performed in vitro. However, neurons are demanding cells and need the additional support of astrocytes for their long-term survival. This cellular heterogeneity is in conflict with the aim to dissect the analysis of neurons and astrocytes. We present here a cell-culture assay that allows for the long-term cocultivation of pure primary neurons and astrocytes, which share the same chemically defined medium, while being physically separated. In this setup, the cultures survive for up to four weeks and the assay is suitable for a diversity of investigations concerning neuron-glia interaction.

Introduction

Throughout the past decades, the general interpretation of neuroglia function has evolved from the attribution of a merely supportive towards an active regulatory role concerning neuronal function¹. Because of their prominent impact on brain homeostasis in health and disease², astrocytes are of special interest for the scientific community. In the past few years, a diversity of studies have focused on neuron-glia interactions in vivo and in vitro³. However, most of the culture systems do not allow for the separate analysis of both cell types and of their respective secretomes.

Several ....

Protocol

The experiments with mice were in accordance with the German Law and the German Society for Neuroscience guidelines of animal husbandry. The animal care and utilization committees of the Ruhr-University Bochum have granted the appropriate permits.

1. Preparation and Cultivation of Cortical Astrocytes

Note: Complete these steps of the protocol at least 7 d before proceeding to the next steps, as the astrocyte cultures should develop into confluent monolayers before the neurons are prepared. Primary astrocytes are derived from mixed glial cultures obtained from mouse pups around postnatal day (P) 0-3. Three brains (6....

Results

The analysis of the neuronal cultures via the indirect coculture system is multifarious and can be performed at different stages of culture maturation. Due to the fact that the cells can be maintained for up to 4 weeks, long-term investigations of the cultures are possible.

The schematic in the middle left panel of Figure 1 demonstrates the cocultivation setup. With the use of this system, live cell imaging of b.......

Discussion

The main goal of the current protocol is to completely separate neuronal and astrocytic cultures, while maintaining them in shared medium. For this reason, the purity of the cultures obtained should be verified at the beginning of the procedure. We recommend the use of neuron-specific tubulin, neurofilaments or NeuN protein as neuronal markers, GFAP as astrocytic marker, O4 antigen as oligodendrocyte precursor marker and Iba1 protein to identify microglia.

Pay special attention when performing.......

Materials

List of materials used in this article

Name	Company	Catalog Number	Comments
Reagents
B27	Gibco (Life Technologies)	17504-044
Cell-culture-grade water	MilliQ
Cytosine-β-D-arabinofuranoside (AraC)	Sigma-Aldrich	C1768	CAUTION: H317, H361
DMEM	Gibco (Life Technologies)	41966-029
DNAse	Worthington	LS002007
Gentamycin	Sigma-Aldrich	G1397	CAUTION: H317-334
Glucose	Serva	22700
HBSS	Gibco (Life Technologies)	14170-088
HEPES	Gibco (Life Technologies)	15630-056
Horse serum	Biochrom AG	S9135
L-Cysteine	Sigma-Aldrich	C-2529
MEM	Gibco (Life Technologies)	31095-029
Ovalbumin	Sigma-Aldrich	A7641	CAUTION: H334
Papain	Worthington	3126
PBS	self-made
Poly-D-lysine	Sigma-Aldrich	P0899
Poly-L-ornithine	Sigma-Aldrich	P3655
Sodium pyruvate	Sigma-Aldrich	S8636
Trypsin-EDTA	Gibco (Life Technologies)	25300054
Equipment
24-well-plates	Thermoscientific/Nunc	142475
24-wells-plate (for the  indirect co-culture)	BD Falcon	353504
Binocular	Leica	MZ6
Cell-culture inserts	BD Falcon	353095
Centrifuge	Heraeus	Multifuge 3S-R
Counting Chamber	Marienfeld	650010
Forceps	FST Dumont (#5)	11254-20
glass cover slips (12 mm)	Carl Roth (Menzel- Gläser)	P231.1
Incubator	Thermo Scientific	Heracell 240i
Micro-tube (2 mL)	Sarstedt	72,691
Microscope	Leica	DMIL
Millex Syringe-driven filter unit	Millipore	SLGV013SL
Orbital shaker	New Brunswick Scientific	Innova 4000
Parafilm	Bemis	PM-996
Petri dishes (10 cm)	Sarstedt	833,902
pipette (1 mL)	Gilson	Pipetman 1000
Sterile work bench	The Baker Company	Laminar Flow SterilGARD III
Surgical scissors	FST Dumont	14094-11
Syringe	Henry Schein	9003016
T75 flask	Sarstedt	833,911,002
tube (15 mL)	Sarstedt	64,554,502
Water bath	GFL	Water bath type 1004