Nerve cell dissociation has become a key procedural tool in the implementation of a number of techniques in cellular and molecular neurobiology. We report that a protease preparation from Streptomyces fradiae (henceforth SF-protease) dissociates viable and morphologically identifiable embryonic and mature neurons and glial cells from the central nervous system of chick and rat, when used under strictly controlled conditions. Typical dendritic and axonal growth cones, with their lamellipodia and filopodia, are seen in many neuroblast types - growth cones in the case of embryonic glial cells and even the thinnest processes of some cells, such as the microvilli of adult chick retinal Müller (glial) cells, or the cilia of photoreceptors appear intact. Our results suggest that the SF-protease releases cells from tissue in a way that ensures the continuity of the plasma membrane and cuts through the transmembrane attachment systems (either cell-cell or cell-extracellular matrix) without compromising the cytoskeletal integrity underlying native cell shape.