Growth and differentiation of aggregating fetal brain cells in a serum-free defined medium

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Abstract
Aggregating cultures of mechanically dissociated fetal brain cells provide an excellent system for neurobiological studies of cellular growth and differentiation1–5, but, in common with almost all culture systems, they have the disadvantage that crude serum is required in the medium. Although several cell lines have either been adapted to serum-free conditions6–12 or grown normally in serum-free media supplemented with hormones, trace elements and defined serum components12–16, this approach has never been applied to differentiating primary cells of the central nervous system. We now describe the successful cultivation of aggregating fetal rat brain cells in a chemically defined, serum-free medium.