Neurogenic potential of spinal cord organotypic culture

Organotypic Cultures as a Model to Study Adult Neurogenesis in CNS Disorders

Neural regeneration resides in certain specific regions of adult CNS. Adult neurogenesis occurs throughout life, especially from the subgranular zone of hippocampus and the subventricular zone, and can be modulated in physiological and pathological conditions. Numerous techniques and animal models have been developed to demonstrate and observe neural regeneration but, in order to study the molecular and cellular mechanisms and to characterize multiple types of cell populations involved in the activation of neurogenesis and gliogenesis, investigators have to turn to in vitro models. Organotypic cultures best recapitulate the 3D organization of the CNS and can be explored taking advantage of many techniques. Here, we review the use of organotypic cultures as a reliable and well defined method to study the mechanisms of neurogenesis under normal and pathological conditions. As an example, we will focus on the possibilities these cultures offer to study the pathophysiology of diseases like Alzheimer disease, Parkinson's disease, and cerebral ischemia.

Organotypic Spinal Cord Culture: a Proper Platform for the Functional Screening

Recent improvements in organotypic slice culturing and its accompanying technological innovations have made this biological preparation increasingly useful ex vivo experimental model. Among organotypic slice cultures obtained from various central nervous regions, spinal cord slice culture is an absorbing model that represents several unique advantages over other current in vitro and in vivo models. The culture of developing spinal cord slices, as allows real-time observation of embryonic cells behaviors, is an instrumental platform for developmental investigation. Importantly, due to the ability of ex vivo models to recapitulate different aspects of corresponding in vivo conditions, these models have been subject of various manipulations to derive disease-relevant slice models. Moreover spinal cord slice cultures represent a potential platform for screening of different pharmacological agents and evaluation of cell transplantation and neuroregenerative materials. In this review, we will focus on studies carried out using the ex vivo model of spinal cord slice cultures and main advantages linked to practicality of these slices in both normal and neuropathological diseases and summarize them in different categories based on application.