Culture and characterization of rat mesencephalic dopaminergic neurons.

Stephen D Skaper, Giulia Mercanti, Laura Facci

Department of Pharmacology and Anesthesiology, University of Padova, Padova, Italy. stephen.skaper@unipd.it

Methods in molecular biology (Clifton, N.J.) 2012

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Dopaminergic neuronal cell degeneration is the principal characteristic feature of the neuropathology of Parkinson's disease. Cultures of mesencephalic neurons are widely used as a source of dopaminergic neurons for the study of mechanisms implicated in dopaminergic cell death and for the evaluation of potential dopaminergic neuroprotective agents, including neurotrophic factors. This chapter presents a detailed protocol for the preparation of rat mesencephalic cell cultures and their application to evaluating the neuroprotective action of brain-derived neurotrophic factor.

Citation

Stephen D Skaper, Giulia Mercanti, Laura Facci. Culture and characterization of rat mesencephalic dopaminergic neurons. Methods in molecular biology (Clifton, N.J.). 2012;846:91-101