ACSF stands for artificial cerebral spinal fluid and it’s handy to have a bottle of it handy when studying brain slices. It helps convince the cells they’re still in their natural environment.
It’s easy to make. The only necessary supplies are a beaker, scale, bottle, MilliQ filtered water (or distilled), a tank of carbogen (95% oxygen, 5% carbon dioxide) and an osmometer.
Some people make it without the calcium and magnesium, waiting until the last moment to add them since these amounts vary based on the experiment (low magnesium allowing NMDA channels to unblock, low calcium reducing signals, etc.)
To MilliQ water (950ml) add the following:
- 7.422g Sodium Chloride (M.W.: 58.44)
- 2.100g Sodium Bicarbonate (M.W.: 84.01)
- 0.173g Monobasic Sodium Phosphate (M.W.: 137.99)
- 0.187g Potassium Chloride (M.W.: 74.56)
- 0.204g Magnesium Chloride (M.W.: 203.31)
- 4.505g Glucose (M.W.:180.20)
Increase the volume to 1L with MilliQ water.
Bubble with carbogen until saturated.
Add Calcium Chloride (1M solution) for a final concentration of 2mM.
Check osmolarity (should be around 310-320).
