Low glucose culture conditions alter neuronal energetics, mimicking in vivo studies

Historically, neurons have been cultured in media containing ~25mM of glucose, much higher than circulating glucose in brain tissue. We tested if "standard" hyperglycaemic culture conditions affect the balance of neuronal glycolysis and mitochondrial respiration, compared to culture systems in glucose closer to that found in vivo. We grew neuronal cultures with <5% glial contamination from neonatal C57bl6 mice for 14 days in commercially available media (Thermofisher Neurobasal Plus, 25 mM Glucose) and Neurobasal A media with 5 mM glucose. We found neurons grew well in both glucose concentrations until at least 14 days in vitro.