Figure 5

Multi-electrode array studies of primary hippocampal neurons. (a-b) Characterization of the cultures. (a) Immunocytochemical staining demonstrates maturation of cellular networks from day 10 to day 30. Propidium iodide staining of all nuclei (red), visualization of cell types by MAP-2 (mature neurons) or GFAP (astrocytes) staining (green), as well as merged pictures are presented (scale bar = 100 μm). (b) Cellular composition of networks remains stable over time and is not altered by EPO treatment (0.3 IU/ml every other day) from day 5 through 25 in culture (Mean ± S.E.M. of N = 3 independent cultures per time point). (c) Demonstration of primary hippocampal neurons grown on multi-electrode array dishes, containing 60 electrodes/dish. (d-e) Spontaneous electrical activity of primary hippocampal neuronal networks in culture is measured daily from week 3 through week 7. Group statistics of the multi-electrode array recordings over each week show significant dissociation over time of EPO versus control cultures. (d) Silencing group statistics reveal a global decrease of channels with low activity in control cultures that cannot be observed in EPO-treated cultures. (e) Bursting group statistics show that the percentage of strongly bursting channels increases in the EPO group after termination of treatment. Medians ± S.E.M. presented of N = 7 independent cultures. P values are given in the text.