Isolation and culture of endothelial cells, pericytes and perivascular resident macrophage-like melanocytes from the young mouse ear

Lingling Neng, Wenjing Zhang, Ahmed Hassan, Marcin Zemla, Allan Kachelmeier, Anders Fridberger, Manfred Auer, Xiaorui Shi

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

49 Scopus citations

Abstract

This protocol describes a growth medium-based approach for obtaining cochlear endothelial cells (ECs), pericytes (PCs) and perivascular resident macrophage-like melanocytes (PVM/Ms) from the stria vascularis of mice aged between P10 and P15 (P, postnatal day). The procedure does not involve mechanical or enzymatic digestion of the sample tissue. Explants of stria vascularis, 'mini-chips', are selectively cultured in growth medium, and primary cell lines are obtained in 7-10 d. The method is simple and reliable, and it provides high-quality ECs, PVM/Ms and PCs with a purity >90% after two passages. This protocol is suitable for producing primary culture cells from organs and tissues of small volume and high anatomical complexity, such as the inner ear capillaries. The highly purified primary cell lines enable cell culture-based in vitro modeling of cell-cell interactions, barrier control function and drug action.

Original languageEnglish (US)
Pages (from-to)709-720
Number of pages12
JournalNature protocols
Volume8
Issue number4
DOIs
StatePublished - Mar 2013

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • General Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology

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