Generating and Co-culturing Murine Primary Microglia and Cortical Neurons

Summary

This protocol describes a microglia-neuronal co-culture established from primary neuronal cells isolated from mouse embryos at embryonic days 15-16 and primary microglia generated from the brains of neonatal mice at post-natal days 1-2.

Abstract

Microglia are tissue-resident macrophages of the central nervous system (CNS), performing numerous functions that support neuronal health and CNS homeostasis. They are a major population of immune cells associated with CNS disease activity, adopting reactive phenotypes that potentially contribute to neuronal injury during chronic neurodegenerative diseases such as multiple sclerosis (MS). The distinct mechanisms by which microglia regulate neuronal function and survival during health and disease remain limited due to challenges in resolving the complex in vivo interactions between microglia, neurons, and other CNS environmental factors. Thus, the in vitro approach of co-culturing microglia and neurons remains a valuable tool for studying microglia-neuronal interactions. Here, we present a protocol to generate and co-culture primary microglia and neurons from mice. Specifically, microglia were isolated after 9-10 days in vitro from a mixed glia culture established from brain homogenates derived from neonatal mice between post-natal days 0-2. Neuronal cells were isolated from brain cortices of mouse embryos between embryonic days 16-18. After 4-5 days in vitro, neuronal cells were seeded in 96-well plates, followed by the addition of microglia to form the co-culture. Careful timing is critical for this protocol as both cell types need to reach experimental maturity to establish the co-culture. Overall, this co-culture can be useful for studying microglia-neuron interactions and can provide multiple readouts, including immunofluorescence microscopy, live imaging, as well as RNA and protein assays.

Introduction

Microglia are tissue-resident macrophages that facilitate immunosurveillance and homeostasis in the central nervous system (CNS)^1,2,3. They originate from yolk sac erythromyeloid progenitor cells that colonize the brain during embryonic development^4,5,6 and are maintained throughout the organism's life span through self-renewal, which involves proliferation and apoptosis⁷. At steady-state, resting microglia have ramified morphology and engage in tissu....

Protocol

All animals used in this study were housed and handled with approval from the University Animal Care Committee (UACC) of the University of Saskatchewan and the Canadian Council on Animal Care (CCAC). Post-natal days 0-2 CD1 male and female mice and embryonic days 16-18 (E16-18) embryos from pregnant CD1 mice were used for this study. The details of the reagents and the equipment used are listed in the Table of Materials.

1. Primary microglia culture

Discussion

This article describes a protocol for isolating and culturing mouse primary neurons and primary microglia, which are subsequently used to establish a microglia-neuronal co-culture that can be used to study how microglia and neuron interactions regulate their cellular health and function. This relatively simple and accessible approach can provide critical insights into the mechanisms and functional outcomes of microglia neuron interactions in the CNS.

To achieve an optimal co-culture, several c.......

Materials

Name	Company	Catalog Number	Comments
10 cm Petri dish	Fisher	07-202-011	Sterile
1x Versene	Gibco	15040-066
B-27 Plus Neuronal Culture System	Gibco	A3653401
Dissection microscope	VWR
DNase I	Roche	11284932001
Dulbecco’s Modified Eagle Medium (DMEM)	Gibco	11960-044
Fetal Bovine Serum	ThermoFisher Sci	12483-020
HBSS (10x)	Gibco	14065-056
Hemacytometer	Hausser Scientific	1475
HEPES	ThermoFisher Sci	15630080
Leibovitz’s L-15 Medium (1x)	Fisher Scientific	21083027
Macrophage colony stimulating factor	Peprotech	315-02
Micro-Forceps	RWD	F11020-11	Autoclaved/Sterile
Non-essential amino acids	Cytiva	SH3023801
PBS (10x)	ThermoFisher Sci	AM9625
Penicillin Streptomycin Glutamine (100x)	Gibco	103780-16
Poly-L-ornithine hydrobromide	Sigma	P3655-100MG
Sodium pyruvate (100 mM)	Gibco	11360-070
Spring scissors	RWD	S11008-42	Autoclaved/Sterile
Surgical blade	Feather	08-916-5D	Sterile
T-25 flasks	Fisher	10-126-9
T-75 flasks	Fisher	13-680-65
Tissue forceps	Codman	30-4218	Autoclaved/Sterile
Tissue scissors	RWD	S12052-10	Autoclaved/Sterile
Trypan Blue	Thermofisher Sci	15250-061
Trypsin (2.5%)	ThermoFisher Sci	15090046
Widefield Immunofluorescence Microscope	Zeiss