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Nanotopography and Microconfinement Impact on Primary Hippocampal Astrocyte Morphology, Cytoskeleton and Spontaneous Calcium Wave Signalling. Cells 2023; 12:cells12020293. [PMID: 36672231 PMCID: PMC9856934 DOI: 10.3390/cells12020293] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/15/2022] [Revised: 12/19/2022] [Accepted: 01/10/2023] [Indexed: 01/15/2023] Open
Abstract
Astrocytes' organisation affects the functioning and the fine morphology of the brain, both in physiological and pathological contexts. Although many aspects of their role have been characterised, their complex functions remain, to a certain extent, unclear with respect to their contribution to brain cell communication. Here, we studied the effects of nanotopography and microconfinement on primary hippocampal rat astrocytes. For this purpose, we fabricated nanostructured zirconia surfaces as homogenous substrates and as micrometric patterns, the latter produced by a combination of an additive nanofabrication and micropatterning technique. These engineered substrates reproduce both nanotopographical features and microscale geometries that astrocytes encounter in their natural environment, such as basement membrane topography, as well as blood vessels and axonal fibre topology. The impact of restrictive adhesion manifests in the modulation of several cellular properties of single cells (morphological and actin cytoskeletal changes) and the network organisation and functioning. Calcium wave signalling was observed only in astrocytes grown in confined geometries, with an activity enhancement in cells forming elongated agglomerates with dimensions typical of blood vessels or axon fibres. Our results suggest that calcium oscillation and wave propagation are closely related to astrocytic morphology and actin cytoskeleton organisation.
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Previdi A, Piazzoni C, Borghi F, Schulte C, Lorenzelli L, Giacomozzi F, Bucciarelli A, Malgaroli A, Lamanna J, Moro A, Racchetti G, Podestà A, Lenardi C, Milani P. Micropatterning of Substrates for the Culture of Cell Networks by Stencil-Assisted Additive Nanofabrication. MICROMACHINES 2021; 12:mi12010094. [PMID: 33477416 PMCID: PMC7829752 DOI: 10.3390/mi12010094] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/02/2021] [Revised: 01/12/2021] [Accepted: 01/13/2021] [Indexed: 11/16/2022]
Abstract
The fabrication of in vitro neuronal cell networks where cells are chemically or electrically connected to form functional circuits with useful properties is of great interest. Standard cell culture substrates provide ensembles of cells that scarcely reproduce physiological structures since their spatial organization and connectivity cannot be controlled. Supersonic Cluster Beam Deposition (SCBD) has been used as an effective additive method for the large-scale fabrication of interfaces with extracellular matrix-mimicking surface nanotopography and reproducible morphological properties for cell culture. Due to the high collimation of SCBD, it is possible to exploit stencil masks for the fabrication of patterned films and reproduce features as small as tens of micrometers. Here, we present a protocol to fabricate micropatterned cell culture substrates based on the deposition of nanostructured cluster-assembled zirconia films by stencil-assisted SCBD. The effectiveness of this approach is demonstrated by the fabrication of micrometric patterns able to confine primary astrocytes. Calcium waves propagating in the astrocyte networks are shown.
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Affiliation(s)
- Anita Previdi
- CIMaINa and Dipartimento di Fisica, Università degli Studi di Milano, Via Celoria 16, 20133 Milano, Italy; (A.P.); (C.P.); (F.B.); (C.S.); (A.P.); (C.L.)
| | - Claudio Piazzoni
- CIMaINa and Dipartimento di Fisica, Università degli Studi di Milano, Via Celoria 16, 20133 Milano, Italy; (A.P.); (C.P.); (F.B.); (C.S.); (A.P.); (C.L.)
| | - Francesca Borghi
- CIMaINa and Dipartimento di Fisica, Università degli Studi di Milano, Via Celoria 16, 20133 Milano, Italy; (A.P.); (C.P.); (F.B.); (C.S.); (A.P.); (C.L.)
| | - Carsten Schulte
- CIMaINa and Dipartimento di Fisica, Università degli Studi di Milano, Via Celoria 16, 20133 Milano, Italy; (A.P.); (C.P.); (F.B.); (C.S.); (A.P.); (C.L.)
| | - Leandro Lorenzelli
- Center for Materials and Microsystems (CMM), Bruno Kessler Foundation (FBK), Via Sommarive 18, 38123 Trento, Italy; (L.L.); (F.G.); (A.B.)
| | - Flavio Giacomozzi
- Center for Materials and Microsystems (CMM), Bruno Kessler Foundation (FBK), Via Sommarive 18, 38123 Trento, Italy; (L.L.); (F.G.); (A.B.)
| | - Alessio Bucciarelli
- Center for Materials and Microsystems (CMM), Bruno Kessler Foundation (FBK), Via Sommarive 18, 38123 Trento, Italy; (L.L.); (F.G.); (A.B.)
| | - Antonio Malgaroli
- Center for Behavioral Neuroscience and Communication (BNC), Università Vita-Salute San Raffaele, Via Olgettina 58, 20132 Milano, Italy; (A.M.); (J.L.); (A.M.); (G.R.)
| | - Jacopo Lamanna
- Center for Behavioral Neuroscience and Communication (BNC), Università Vita-Salute San Raffaele, Via Olgettina 58, 20132 Milano, Italy; (A.M.); (J.L.); (A.M.); (G.R.)
| | - Andrea Moro
- Center for Behavioral Neuroscience and Communication (BNC), Università Vita-Salute San Raffaele, Via Olgettina 58, 20132 Milano, Italy; (A.M.); (J.L.); (A.M.); (G.R.)
| | - Gabriella Racchetti
- Center for Behavioral Neuroscience and Communication (BNC), Università Vita-Salute San Raffaele, Via Olgettina 58, 20132 Milano, Italy; (A.M.); (J.L.); (A.M.); (G.R.)
| | - Alessandro Podestà
- CIMaINa and Dipartimento di Fisica, Università degli Studi di Milano, Via Celoria 16, 20133 Milano, Italy; (A.P.); (C.P.); (F.B.); (C.S.); (A.P.); (C.L.)
| | - Cristina Lenardi
- CIMaINa and Dipartimento di Fisica, Università degli Studi di Milano, Via Celoria 16, 20133 Milano, Italy; (A.P.); (C.P.); (F.B.); (C.S.); (A.P.); (C.L.)
| | - Paolo Milani
- CIMaINa and Dipartimento di Fisica, Università degli Studi di Milano, Via Celoria 16, 20133 Milano, Italy; (A.P.); (C.P.); (F.B.); (C.S.); (A.P.); (C.L.)
- Correspondence:
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