Elimination of Cell Types from Mixed Neural Cell Cultures

There are primarily three strategies that can be used to isolate cells directly from body tissues and establish highly enriched neural cells in cultures of specific cell type. The first strategy involves using differential gradients to separate and purify cellular populations through centrifugal force. This procedure is well-described by Pretlow and Pretlow (1983), as well as Yong and Antel in Chapter 11. The second strategy utilizes the presence of specific cell surface antigens and established cell markers to further purify and enrich populations of neural cells, through the application of fluorescent cell sorting techniques. Use of such approaches will not be discussed further in this chapter. The third strategy employs the addition of compounds or substitution of specific nutrients to the growth media for the elimination of certain cell types from mixed cell cultures. These keywords were added by machine and not by the authors. This process is experimental and the keywords may be updated as the learning algorithm improves.