Improved 3D Hydrogel Cultures of Primary Glial Cells for In Vitro Modelling of Neuroinflammation

The overall goal of this 3D cell culture protocol is to model the glial scar event of the central nervous system using key indicator cells:microglia, astrocytes and oligodendrocytes.This method can help answer key questions in the neuro-inflammation field, such as the potential for glial cells to enhance regenerative strategies and unravel the glial scar.The main advantage of this technique is that glial biology can be rapidly characterized in a 3D micro-environment with systematic and high-through put manipulations.To prepare cover slips for seeding, begin by adding one milliliter of 3-propyl methacrylate to 49 milliliters of distilled water to make a 2%solution.Then place 18 millimeter glass cover slips into the solution and rock for one hour at room temperature.After one hour, rinse the cover slips by serially dipping each cover slip in three beakers of 100 milliliters of deionized water.Then dry the cover slips in a vacuum with a desiccator and oven at 40 degrees Celsius overnight.The next day, use forceps to quickly immerse individual cover slips in 70%ethanol.Then, without drying, drop each cover slip into a well of a 12-well plate.Next, wash each well with one milliliter of sterile deionized water.Then add one milliliter of sterile poly