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The influence of oxygen on neural stem cell proliferation, differentiation, and apoptosis is of great interest for regenerative therapies in neurodegenerative disorders, such as Parkinson's disease. These oxygen depending mechanisms have to been considered for the optimization of neural cell culture conditions. In this study, we used a cell culture system with an oxygen-permeable polytetrafluorethylene (PTFE) foil to investigate the effect of oxygen on metabolism and survival of neural cell lines in vitro. Human glial astrocytoma-derived cells (GOS-3) and rat pheochromacytoma cells (PC12) were cultured on the gas-permeable PTFE foil as well as a conventional non oxygen-permeable cell culture substrate at various oxygen concentrations. Analyses of metabolic activity, gene expression of apoptotic grade, and dopamine synthesis were performed. Under low oxygen partial pressure (2%, 5%) the anaerobic metabolism and apoptotic rate of cultured cells is diminished on PTFE foil when compared with the conventional culture dishes. In contrast, under higher oxygen atmosphere (21%) the number of apoptotic cells on the PTFE foil was enhanced. This culture model demonstrates a suitable model for the improvement of oxygen dependent metabolism under low oxygen conditions as well as for induction of oxidative stress by high oxygen atmosphere without supplementation of neurotoxins. © 2010 American Institute of Chemical Engineers Biotechnol. Prog., 2010