Culture of purified glial cell populations from optic nerve

Glial cells play a key role in nervous system function, providing neurotrophic factor support to neurons as well as taking part in two-way neuron-glia signaling (e.g., neurotransmitter release). White matter-derived glia are important in certain neurodegenerative diseases involving axonal loss, for example in multiple sclerosis. Here we describe procedures for the preparation and culture of mixed nerve cells from postnatal rat optic nerve, followed by protocols which can serve for the purification of individual populations of glia from this tissue, namely O2A progenitors and oligodendrocytes, and astrocytes and astrocyte precursors.