Chick Neural Tube Explant Culture

Abstract

The neural tube explant culture technique allows in vitro culturing of small pieces of neural tissue isolated from e.g., chick or mouse embryonic tissue in a matrix of collagen for defined periods of time. This method can be used to study the effects of defined molecules on developmental processes such as neural progenitor proliferation and neuronal differentiation and/or survival. Since the explant material can also be prepared from embryonic tissue electroporated with expression vectors, this technique can be adapted to study gene function in the presence of specific environmental signals. Different regions of the neural tube can also be isolated during the dissection step, allowing specific regions of the neural tube to be studied separately. Here, we present a neural tube explant culture method that we have used in several studies (Dias et al., 2014; Lek et al., 2010; Vallstedt et al., 2005).