What supplements should I use with Neurobasal or Neurobasal-A medium?
Neurobasal and Neurobasal-A media (for postnatal and adult neurons) allow for long-term maintenance of neuronal cells without the need for an astrocyte feeder layer. These media should be supplemented with either serum or a serum-free supplement, plus 0.5mM L-glutamine. B-27 supplement is a serum-free supplement that comes as a 50X concentrate in a 10ml volume. This is enough supplement for 500ml of media. Fetal, postnatal, and adult neural cultures can be grown in the appropriate Neurobasal medium supplemented with B-27 supplement .
We also have two other supplements. One is called G-5 and is for growth and expression of glial cells (normal and tumor) of astrocytic phenotype. This comes in a 1ml size, at a 100X concentration. The other supplement is called N-2 and is for growth and expression of post-mitotic neurons and tumor cells of neuronal phenotype. This comes in a 5ml size, at a 100X concentration.
For more information on Neurobasal media, search "Neurobasal" from our website home page.
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Is there a difference between the Gibco N-2 Supplement formulation from Thermo Fisher and the N-2 Supplement formulation from Global Stem?
Both N-2 Supplement formulations can be used in the culture of neurons, but the concentrations of components in the formula for the Global Stem N-2 Supplement are higher than the Gibco N-2 Supplement.
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Can I filter the N-2 Supplement?
The N-2 Supplement (100X) solution can be filtered. We do not recommend filtering the medium once N-2 has been added at a final concentration of 1X.
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What is the recommended storage condition and shelf life for N-2 Supplement (100X) (Cat. No. 17502001 or 17502048)?
The shelf life for N-2 Supplement (100X) is 18 months from the date of manufacture when stored at the recommended storage condition of -5 to -20 degrees C, protected from light. The expiration date should be listed on the product label as well as on the COA for the lot of the supplement.
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Which supplement can I add to Neurobasal Medium to culture my neural cells?
As a general guideline, we recommend using Gibco B-27 Plus Supplement to culture neural stem cells, hippocampal, and other CNS neurons.
- For neuroblastomas, or post-mitotic neurons from both PNS and CNS, Gibco N-2 Supplement can be used.
- For primary glial cells (astrocytes) or tumor cell lines of astrocytic phenotype (astrocytes and gliomas), or oligodendrocytes, Gibco G-5 Supplement can be used.