Culture of major pelvic ganglion neurons from adult rat.

Successful culturing of neurons from adult animals has been historically difficult for a relatively long time. In this study, we reported the development of a novel method for the isolation and the culture of major pelvic ganglion (MPG) neurons from adult rat. The cultured cells were identified by neuron morphology and staining with neuronal marker (neurofilament-200, NF-200). The results demonstrate that the new protocol we used was reliable in obtaining a relatively high yield of MPG neurons. Furthermore, it improves the speed and simplicity in neuronal isolation. The viability of neurons can be maintained for about 2 weeks, which should be sufficient for investigating physiological and pathological processes occurring in mature major pelvic ganglia. And this may provide a useful assessment to currently available techniques for the culture of adult neurons.