Abstract
This chapter presents fast and easy protocols to obtain highly purified cultures of proliferating adult rat, canine, and human Schwann cells. Cell preparation from predegenerated adult sciatic nerves combined with the use of melanocyte growth medium supplemented with forskolin, fibroblast growth factor-2, pituitary extract, and heregulin as selective, serum-free culture medium and two methods for a consecutive cell-enrichment step are described. Our protocols result in approximately 90% pure Schwann cell cultures (or higher). The average time to obtain highly purified in vitro cultures of adult Schwann cells is 21 days.
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Acknowledgments
In the first place, I wish to thank all persons who helped to establish and to advance the described techniques: Dr. Christina Mauritz, Dipl. Biol.; Maike Wesemann; Sukhada Chaturvedi, PhD; Dr. Peer Seef; Dr. Ruth Schmitte; and Silvana Taubeler-Gerling. Many thanks also to Prof. Dr. Claudia Grothe for creating a supportive working atmosphere. Special thanks go to our clinical colleagues and their patients for providing us with human and canine nerve tissue samples: Prof. Dr. Cordula Matthies; Prof. Dr. Götz Penkert; Dr. Veronika Stein, PhD; Dr. Henning Schenk, PhD; Dr. Cornelia Flieshardt; and Prof. Dr. Andrea Tipold.
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Haastert-Talini, K. (2012). Culture and Proliferation of Highly Purified Adult Schwann Cells from Rat, Dog, and Man. In: Skaper, S. (eds) Neurotrophic Factors. Methods in Molecular Biology, vol 846. Humana Press. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-61779-536-7_17
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-61779-536-7_17
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