Preparation of Enriched Fractions from Cerebral Cortex containing Isolated, Metabolically Active Neuronal Cells

Abstract

CEREBRAL cortex contains two very different cell species, namely, neuronal and glial cells. Though there are wide variations in cell type within the two classes, it is nevertheless generally recognized that they are functionally as well as morphologically distinct. It is therefore of relevance to attempt to prepare from the brain fractions enriched in either cell type, in order to examine their metabolism in isolation. Previous authors^1,2 have used microdissection techniques in order to isolate up to a few hundred neurones, but such methods do not provide sufficient material for metabolic investigation. A new method has therefore been devised, which enables enriched fractions containing neuronal cells to be prepared rapidly, in bulk, and reasonably intact. Up to 1.2 × 106 neuronal cells can be prepared from each rat cortex within 3 h.