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Updated: Feb 13, 2026

In Vitro Myelination of Peripheral Axons in a Coculture of Rat Dorsal Root Ganglion Explants and Schwann Cells
Published on: February 10, 2023
Preparation of Neonatal Rat Schwann Cells and Embryonic Dorsal Root Ganglia Neurons for In Vitro Myelination Studies
1Department of Biological Sciences, Rutgers University, Newark, NJ, USA. maurep01@newark.rutgers.edu.
Abstract:
The ability to understand in great details, at the molecular level, the process of myelination in the peripheral nervous system (PNS) is, in no minor part, due to the availability of an in vitro culture model of PNS myelination. This culture system is based on the ability to prepare large population of highly purified Schwann cells and dorsal root ganglia neurons that, once co-cultured, can be driven to form in vitro well-defined myelinated axon units. In this chapter, we present our detailed protocols to establish these cell cultures that are derived from modifications of procedures developed 35-40 years ago.
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