GROWTH OF DISSOCIATED RAT CEREBELLAR CELLS USING SERUM-FREE SUPPLEMENTED MEDIA AND VARIED TRANSFERRIN CONCENTRATIONS

Dissociated neonatal rat cerebellar cells were grown on medium supplemented with 10% horse serum (HS) and compared with those grown using a serum-free supplemented (SFS) medium, modified from Bottenstein and Sato (1979), containing insulin, transferrin, progesterone, putrescine and Se (after an initial 24 h in 10% HS). Cells survived for several weeks using either medium. Cells grown in SFS had higher levels of GABA uptake than cells grown in HS. Cellular morphology and the proportion of neurons to glial cells were similar under the 2 conditions. Transferrin concentrations of 0.5, 10 and 100 .mu.g/ml were tested. Neither neuronal nor glial cells were sensitive to this 200-fold variation. The SFS medium supports survival and maturation of both neurons and glial cells from rat cerebellum. The medium is not completely defined since 1 day of serum is still required and the heterogeneous cell population is undoubtedly conditioning the medium to some extent.