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. The adult rat brain has been shown to contain 200 million neurons. Scientists have characterized hundreds of neuron types based on location, morphology and gene expression. The raphe nuclei are clusters of mostly serotonergic neurons located in the brain stem. Raphe neurons send projections to the forebrain, brainstem and spinal cord to regulate mood, memory and circadian rhythms. Primary rat neurons-raphe (RN-r) are a useful in vitro model for studying conditions such as Alzheimer’s disease, depression, and narcolepsy.

The RN-r from ScienCell Research Laboratories are isolated from E14 CD® IGS rat brain striatum. RN-s are cryopreserved at P0 and delivered frozen. Each vial contains >1 x 10⁶ cells in 1 ml volume. RN-r are characterized by immunofluorescence with antibodies specific to beta-tubulin 3. RN-r are negative for mycoplasma, bacteria, yeast and fungi. RN-r are guaranteed to further culture in the conditions provided by ScienCell Research Laboratories however, RN-r 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 of RN-r in vitro.