Insulin and heparin-binding epidermal growth factor-like growth factor synergistically promote astrocyte survival and proliferation in serum-free medium

Publication date: Available online 8 June 2018
Source:Journal of Neuroscience Methods
Author(s): Mei Jia, Zhongfang Shi, Xu Yan, Lixin Xu, Liping Dong, Jiaxin Li, Yujiao Wang, Shaohua Yang, Fang Yuan
BackgroundIn vitro systems allowing maintenance and experimentation on primary astrocyte cultures have been used for decades. Astrocyte cultures are most maintained in serum-containing medium which has been found to alter the morphology and gene profiles of astrocytes.New methodHere, we reported a new serum-free medium for astrocyte culture, which consisted of DMEM and NB media supplemented with insulin and heparin-binding epidermal growth factor-like growth factor (HB-EGF) (SF-I-H medium). Meanwhile FBS-containing (FBS) medium composed of DMEM medium containing 10% FBS were used for comparison study. Cerebral cortex was harvested from postnatal day 1 Wistar rats and brain cells were isolated and seeded to poly-L-lysine coated culture dishes after 15 min differential velocity adherence.ResultsCompared with FBS medium, astrocytes in SF-I-H medium are smaller and exhibited process bearing morphologies. MTT assays showed that cell density and proliferation rate were higher in SF-I-H medium than in FBS medium all the time, and flow cytometry analysis revealed that SF-I-H medium promoted cell mitosis in a manner comparable to FBS medium. Consistently, western blot analysis further revealed that insulin and HB-EGF synergistically activated the PI3K-AKT and MAPK-ERK1/2 signaling cascades as FBS.Comparison with existing method(s)Astrocytes cultured in SF-I-H medium grow faster than FBS medium.ConclusionTaken together, our results indicated that SF-I-H medium, in which cell morphology was similar with astrocytes in brain, was more effective for astrocyte survival and proliferation than FBS medium, providing a new cell model to study astrocyte functions without the interference of serum.



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