Cryopreserved Primary Neurons and Astrocytes

Choose the right primary neural cell model

Primary neurons are signaling cells isolated directly from animal brain tissue and maintained in culture with high survival rates, while astrocytes are star-shaped neural support cells central to neurotransmitter regulation, neuronal health, metabolism, and broader CNS function. This combined page organizes both offerings in a single experience for easier decision-making.

What are primary neurons?

Primary neurons are signaling cells from the brain that have been isolated directly from animal tissue. Primary neurons can be maintained in cell culture with high survival rates, but do not proliferate. Primary neuronal cells maintain a more natural phenotype than immortalized cell lines, so they are a better neuronal cell culture model for neuroscience experiments.

Primary cortical neurons are isolated from the cortex of the brain, whereas primary hippocampal neurons are isolated from the hippocampal region.

Primary cortical neurons and primary hippocampal neurons for your research needs

Gibco cryopreserved primary neurons are a convenient source of high-quality neuronal cells from rat or mouse embryonic brains. They exhibit high viability and purity, and they are suitable for functional studies such as calcium signaling and neurite outgrowth. Cryopreserved primary neurons help provide excellent lot-to-lot consistency to minimize variability in your neuroscience experiments.

Primary rat neurons

Gibco primary cortical neurons and primary hippocampal neurons are available from two rat strains, Fisher and Sprague-Dawley. These primary rat neurons consistently help deliver high viability, purity, and neuronal cell function. Unlike other commercially available primary rat neurons that generally yield 30% or lower post-thaw viability, Gibco primary rat neurons exhibit post-thaw viability in the range of 50–80%, and primary rat neurons grown in B-27 Plus Neuronal Culture System show minimum or absence of glial cell growth.

Primary rat neurons survive four weeks with the B-27 Plus Neuronal Cell Culture System

Figure 1. Cultured rat primary neurons. Cryopreserved primary rat cortical neurons and primary rat hippocampal neurons were thawed in classic neurobasal and B-27 medium and then plated into poly-D-lysine coated 96-well plates into B-27 plus neuronal culture medium (comprising B-27 Plus Supplement (50X) and Neurobasal Plus Medium). Neurons were cultured for four weeks in B-27 Plus Neuronal Culture System and GlutaMAX supplement. Cells were then fixed and stained for neuronal dendritic marker MAP2 (green), neuronal cell body marker HuC/D (red), and nuclei (blue).

Primary mouse neurons

Gibco primary mouse neurons are isolated from E-17 C57 BL/6 mice. When cultured in neurobasal medium with B-27 supplement, they maintain a high survival rate in long-term culture with minimal presence of other neural cells. These primary mouse neurons are capable of calcium flux in response to neurotransmitters within 7 days and demonstrate neurite outgrowth by 14 days.

Download our cryopreserved mouse neurons poster

What are astrocytes?

Astrocytes are large, star-shaped neural cells found in the brain. Astrocytes are the most common cells in the central nervous system and comprise several sub-types based on location within the CNS. They perform a variety of functions including neurotransmitter regulation, support of neuronal health and development as well as immune cell function and metabolism.

Primary astrocytes are harvested from tissue and have not been cultured extensively. Unlike neurons, primary astrocytes can be cultured and expanded in vitro.

Cultured astrocytes can be used to research cell transplantation, intracellular transport, ion-channel function, toxicity, receptor signaling, analyses of electrophysiological properties, neurotransmitter release, and evaluation of interaction between neurons and astrocytes.

Primary rat astrocytes FAQs

Gibco Rat Primary Cortical Astrocytes are isolated from the cortex of fetal (E19) Sprague Dawley rats.

Gibco Rat Primary Cortical Astrocytes were cryopreserved in growth medium containing 10% DMSO at passage 1 (P1).

There are few known differences between cortical and hippocampal astrocytes. However, it has been reported that astrocytes from different regions of the brain show a differential sensitivity to ischemic injury (Zhao and Flavin, 2000; Xu et al., 2001).

Primary rat astrocytes are typically isolated from late fetal or early postnatal brain because the resulting astrocytes are more viable in culture and of higher purity than astrocytes from adult brain.

Upon thawing, the vial has more than 70% viability, which will give more than one million live cells.

Cell purity was evaluated in terms of the expression of astrocyte specific marker, GFAP. More than 80% of the cells were positive for GFAP marker and the expression of neuronal marker (DCX) and oligodendrocyte marker (GalC) were less than 10%.

Gibco Rat Primary Cortical Astrocytes can be thawed, recovered, and proliferated up to three passages to yield 1.5–2 fold increase of cells.

The doubling time of Gibco Rat Primary Cortical Astrocytes is about 8.7 days.

Clean the coverslips and then coat them with 0.01% poly-D-lysine in double distilled water.

Gibco Rat Primary Cortical Astrocytes were dissociated into single cells before cryopreservation, which gives an advantage to control the number of cells to plate.

Astrocytes can be used to research cell transplantation, intracellular transport, ion-channel function, toxicity, receptor signaling, analyses of electrophysiological properties, neurotransmitter release, and evaluation of interaction between neurons and astrocytes.

Dulbecco's Modified Eagle Medium (DMEM) (high glucose)

LIVE/DEAD Cell Vitality Assay Kit

ProLong Gold Antifade Reagent

Cryopreserved products for neuronal and neural cell culture

Browse rat and mouse primary neurons alongside cryopreserved astrocytes.

Rat neurons

Cortical

Cell source	Product	Cat. No.
Isolated from day-18 Fisher 344 rat embryos	Primary Rat Cortex Neurons, 1 x 10⁶	A1084001
Isolated from day-18 Fisher 344 rat embryos	Primary Rat Cortex Neurons, 4 x 10⁶	A1084002
Isolated from Sprague Dawley embryonic day-18 rat embryos	Primary Rat Cortex Neurons, Sprague Dawley, 4 x 10⁶	A36512

Hippocampal

Cell source	Product	Cat. No.
Isolated from day-18 Fisher 344 rat embryos	Isolated from day-18 Fisher 344 rat embryos	A1084101
Isolated from Sprague Dawley embryonic day-18 rat embryos	Primary Rat Hippocampal Neurons, Sprague Dawley	A36513

Mouse neurons

Cortical

Cell source	Product	Cat. No.
Isolated from E-17 C57 BL/6 mice	Primary Mouse Cortical Neurons, 1 x 10⁶	A15585
Isolated from E-17 C57 BL/6 mice	Primary Mouse Cortical Neurons, 4 x 10⁶	A15586