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Primary neuron and astrocyte cultures from postnatal Callithrix jacchus: a non-human primate in vitro model for research in neuroscience, nervous system aging, and neurological diseases of aging

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A Correction to this article was published on 02 February 2022

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Abstract

The ability to generate in vitro cultures of neuronal cells has been instrumental in advancing our understanding of the nervous system. Rodent models have been the principal source of brain cells used in primary cultures for over a century, providing insights that are widely applicable to human diseases. However, therapeutic agents that showed benefit in rodent models, particularly those pertaining to aging and age-associated dementias, have frequently failed in clinical trials. This discrepancy established a potential “translational gap” between human and rodent studies that may at least partially be explained by the phylogenetic distance between rodent and primate species. Several non-human primate (NHP) species, including the common marmoset (Callithrix jacchus), have been used extensively in neuroscience research, but in contrast to rodent models, practical approaches to the generation of primary cell culture systems amenable to molecular studies that can inform in vivo studies are lacking. Marmosets are a powerful model in biomedical research and particularly in studies of aging and age-associated diseases because they exhibit an aging phenotype similar to humans. Here, we report a practical method to culture primary marmoset neurons and astrocytes from brains of medically euthanized postnatal day 0 (P0) marmoset newborns that yield highly pure primary neuron and astrocyte cultures. Primary marmoset neuron and astrocyte cultures can be generated reliably to provide a powerful NHP in vitro model in neuroscience research that may enable mechanistic studies of nervous system aging and of age-related neurodegenerative disorders. Because neuron and astrocyte cultures can be used in combination with in vivo approaches in marmosets, primary marmoset neuron and astrocyte cultures may help bridge the current translational gap between basic and clinical studies in nervous system aging and age-associated neurological diseases.

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Funding

These studies were supported by Merit Review Award 2I0 1BX002211-05A1 from the US Department of Veterans Affairs Biomedical Laboratory Research and Development Service, NIH/NIA R01AG057964-01, the Robert L. Bailey and daughter Lisa K. Bailey Alzheimer’s Fund in memory of Jo Nell Bailey to VG, a William & Ella Owens Medical Research Foundation Grant, the San Antonio Medical Foundation, and the JMR Barker Foundation to VG. These studies were also supported by an award to VG through the NCATS/NIH Clinical and Translational Science Award grant UL1TR002645. SAH was supported by a Career Development (1 IK2 BX003798-01A1) award from the US Department of Veterans Affairs Biomedical Laboratory Research and Development Service. AOD was supported by NIA Training Grant T32AG021890. ABS was supported by NIH/NIA AG050797, the San Antonio Claude D. Pepper Older Americans Independence Center award (NIH/NIA P30 AG044271), and the San Antonio Nathan Shock Center of Excellence in the Biology of Aging (NIH/NIA P30 AG013319).

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Author notes

  1. Angela O. Dorigatti and Stacy A. Hussong contributed equally to this work.

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Cellular and Integrative Physiology, University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio, 15355 Lambda Drive, STCBM 3.200.8, San Antonio, TX, 78245, USA

    Angela O. Dorigatti, Stacy A. Hussong, Stephen F. Hernandez & Veronica Galvan

  2. Barshop Institute for Longevity and Aging Studies, University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio, San Antonio, TX, USA

    Angela O. Dorigatti, Stacy A. Hussong, Stephen F. Hernandez, Aubrey M. Sills, Adam B. Salmon & Veronica Galvan

  3. South Texas Veterans Health Care System, San Antonio, TX, USA

    Stacy A. Hussong, Adam B. Salmon & Veronica Galvan

  4. Department of Molecular Medicine, University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio, San Antonio, TX, USA

    Adam B. Salmon

  5. Glenn Biggs Institute for Alzheimer’s & Neurodegenerative Diseases, University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio, San Antonio, TX, USA

    Veronica Galvan

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  1. Angela O. Dorigatti
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Correspondence to Veronica Galvan.

Ethics declarations

The UTHSCSA Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee (IACUC) regularly monitored marmoset housing and animal conditions to ensure all guidelines for the health and safety of the animals were met. This research was reviewed and approved by the UTHSCSA IACUC and experiments were conducted in compliance with the US Public Health Service’s Policy on Humane Care and Use of Laboratory Animals and the Guide for the Care and Use of Laboratory Animals and adhered to the American Society of Primatologists (ASP) principles for the ethical treatment of non-human primates.

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Dorigatti, A.O., Hussong, S.A., Hernandez, S.F. et al. Primary neuron and astrocyte cultures from postnatal Callithrix jacchus: a non-human primate in vitro model for research in neuroscience, nervous system aging, and neurological diseases of aging. GeroScience 43, 115–124 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11357-020-00284-z

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