Primary Culture of Dissociated Neurons from the Embryonic Cerebral Cortex

Primary neuronal culture is a valuable in vitro model for analyzing the molecular mechanisms underlying the development and function of neural circuits. In contrast to neurons in vivo, primary cultured neurons can easily be transfected with genes of interest or treated with chemicals such as agonists and inhibitors of a specific target molecule. Furthermore, time-dependent morphological changes, such as the acquisition of neuronal polarity, axon elongation, and dendrite branch formation, can be analyzed by using primary neuronal cultures. Here, we describe a method for preparing a primary culture of neurons from the developing cerebral cortex, together with a method for gene transfer to primary cultured cortical neurons.