Vibrodissociation of sliced mammalian nervous tissue.

A new simple and reliable mechanical method of the acute isolation of viable neurones from mammalian brain slices is described. The method is based on the local application of mechanical vibration directly on the chosen site of a slice and does not require the enzymatic pretreatment of the tissue. The application of the method to the isolation of the CA1 pyramidal neurones from rat hippocampal slices has been shown to be highly efficient. The characteristic morphology and sensitivity to N-methyl-D-aspartate and other substances of liberated cells are maintained. Clearly, this method should be attractive in patch-clamp studies of individual cells.