Primary Neural and Neuronal Culture Supplements

Neuronal culture supplements are mixtures of nutrients and vitamins that, when added to a basal medium, create a complete neural cell culture system. Gibco neuronal culture supplements provide high quality and consistency to support your neural cell culture and experiments.

• B-27 Supplement—designed and described by Gregory Brewer [1], this serum-free neuronal culture supplement has a track record of over 25 years of enabling primary neuronal cell culture. Thermo Fisher Scientific offers several variations of B-27 supplement such as insulin-free or without Vitamin A.
• N-2 Supplement—originally developed by Jane Bottenstein [2] for culturing neuroblastoma cell lines, this neural cell supplement can be used as a serum substitute for embryonic neurons and neural stem cell cultures.
• G-5 Supplement—this neural cell culture supplement contains insulin and EGF [3] and supports growth of glial cells, specifically astrocytes, from mixed primary neural cell cultures. Learn about G-5 Supplement formulation
• B-27 Plus Supplement—a serum-free neuronal culture supplement based on the original B-27 that maximizes the survival rate of cultured neurons when used with Neurobasal Plus Medium.
• CultureOne Supplement—designed to improve differentiation of neurons from neural stem cells, this neuronal culture supplement is also useful for controlling astrocyte proliferation in primary neural cell cultures. Learn about CultureOne supplement and neuronal differentiation

N-2 supplement was originally designed and demonstrated to support neuroblastoma (nerve cell cancer) cell lines in serum-free culture whereas B-27 supplement was developed specifically for culture of primary embryonic neurons.

The N-2 supplement formulation includes insulin, transferrin, progesterone, putrescine, and selenium. The B-27 supplement formulation includes many of the same components as N-2 supplement, but also includes the thyroid hormone T3, fatty acids, and antioxidants, such as vitamin E and glutathione.

Thermo Fisher Scientific recommends using the specified Gibco cell culture supplements for the following applications:

1. Brewer G.J., Torricelli J.R., Evege E.K., Price P.J. (1993) Optimized survival of hippocampal neurons in B27-supplemented Neurobasal, a new serum-free medium combination. J Neurosci Res. 35(5):567-76. doi: 10.1002/jnr.490350513. PMID: 8377226.
2. Bottenstein J.E. (1985) Growth and Differentiation of Neural Cells in Defined Media. Current Topics in Neurobiology. Springer, Boston, MA. doi: 10.1007/978-1-4613-2473-7_1.
3. Michler-Stuke A., Wolff J.R., Bottenstein J.E. Factors influencing astrocyte growth and development in defined media. Int J Dev Neurosci. 1984;2(6):575-84. doi: 10.1016/0736-5748(84)90035-2. PMID: 24874398.