The tissue of the central nervous system is made up of two classes of cells that may be broadly categorized as neurons and glia. Neurons are anatomic, functional, and trophic units of the brain. Neurons are dynamically polarized cells responsible for electrochemically transmitting information throughout the nervous system. Despite great variability in size and shape, all neurons share common morphological features, the key elements of a highly complex communication network. In rat, the adult brain has been shown to contain 200 million neurons. The ventral spinal cord contains nerve tracts carrying motor information from the brain. These tracts then exit the ventral spinal cord to connect with target muscles throughout the body. Injuries to the ventral spinal cord severely disrupt voluntary movement. Primary rat neurons-ventral spinal cord (RN-vsc) can be used to study the mechanisms involved in spinal cord injuries. RN-vsc from ScienCell Research Laboratories are isolated from embryonic day 14 rat spinal cord. RN-vsc are cryopreserved at P0 and delivered frozen. Each vial contains >1 x 106 cells in 1 ml volume. RN-vsc are characterized by immunofluorescence with antibodies specific to β-tubulin III. RN-vsc are negative for mycoplasma, bacteria, yeast, and fungi. RN-vsc are guaranteed to further culture under the conditions provided by ScienCell Research Laboratories; however, RNvsc are not recommended for expanding or long-term cultures since the cells do not proliferate in culture. Recommended Medium It is recommended to use neuronal medium (NM, Cat. #1521) for culturing RN-vsc in vitro.