Microarray profiling emphasizes transcriptomic differences between hippocampal in vivo tissue and in vitro cultures

Declan King; Paul A Skehel; Owen Dando; Katie Emelianova; Rona Barron; Thomas M Wishart

doi:10.1093/braincomms/fcab152

Microarray profiling emphasizes transcriptomic differences between hippocampal in vivo tissue and in vitro cultures

Brain Commun. 2021 Jul 8;3(3):fcab152. doi: 10.1093/braincomms/fcab152. eCollection 2021.

Authors

Declan King¹, Paul A Skehel², Owen Dando², Katie Emelianova², Rona Barron³, Thomas M Wishart⁴

Affiliations

¹ Centre for Discovery Brain Sciences, UK Dementia Research Institute, The University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh EH8 9JZ, UK.
² Centre for Discovery Brain Sciences, UK Dementia Research Institute, The University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh EH8 9XD, UK.
³ School of Health Sciences, Queen Margaret University, Edinburgh EH21 6UU, UK.
⁴ College of Medicine and Veterinary Medicine, The Roslin Institute and Royal (Dick) School of Veterinary Studies, University of Edinburgh, Easter Bush, Midlothian EH25 9RG, UK.

Abstract

Primary hippocampal cell cultures are routinely used as an experimentally accessible model platform for the hippocampus and brain tissue in general. Containing multiple cell types including neurons, astrocytes and microglia in a state that can be readily analysed optically, biochemically and electrophysiologically, such cultures have been used in many in vitro studies. To what extent the in vivo environment is recapitulated in primary cultures is an on-going question. Here, we compare the transcriptomic profiles of primary hippocampal cell cultures and intact hippocampal tissue. In addition, by comparing profiles from wild type and the PrP 101LL transgenic model of prion disease, we also demonstrate that gene conservation is predominantly conserved across genetically altered lines.

Keywords: hippocampal cultures; microarray; neuronal; transcriptome.