Rat Neurons-substantia nigra

The tissue of the central nervous system is made up of two classes of cells that may be broadly categorized as neurons and glia. Neurons are anatomic, functional, and trophic units of the brain. Neurons are dynamically polarized cells responsible for electrochemically transmitting information throughout the nervous system. Despite great variability in size and shape, all neurons share common morphological features, the key elements of a highly complex communication network. In rat, the adult brain has been shown to contain 200 million neurons. The substantia nigra is a midbrain cluster of mostly dopaminergic neurons involved in behaviors such as learning, addiction, and movement. Rat neurons-substantia nigra (RN-sn) are a useful model for studying Parkinson’s disease, drug addiction, and schizophrenia.

RN-sn from ScienCell Research Laboratories are isolated from embryonic day 14 rat substantia nigra. RN-sn are cryopreserved at P0 and delivered frozen. Each vial contains >1 x 10^6 cells in 1 ml volume. RN-sn are characterized by immunofluorescence with antibodies specific to β-tubulin III. RN-sn are negative for mycoplasma, bacteria, yeast, and fungi. RN-sn are guaranteed to further culture under the conditions provided by ScienCell Research Laboratories; however, RN-sn are not recommended for expanding or long-term cultures since the cells do not proliferate in culture.

Recommended Medium
It is recommended to use neuronal medium (NM, Cat. #1521) for culturing RN-sn in vitro.