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Pigareva Y, Gladkov A, Kolpakov V, Bukatin A, Li S, Kazantsev VB, Mukhina I, Pimashkin A. Microfluidic Bi-Layer Platform to Study Functional Interaction between Co-Cultured Neural Networks with Unidirectional Synaptic Connectivity. MICROMACHINES 2023; 14:835. [PMID: 37421068 DOI: 10.3390/mi14040835] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/14/2023] [Revised: 04/05/2023] [Accepted: 04/09/2023] [Indexed: 07/09/2023]
Abstract
The complex synaptic connectivity architecture of neuronal networks underlies cognition and brain function. However, studying the spiking activity propagation and processing in heterogeneous networks in vivo poses significant challenges. In this study, we present a novel two-layer PDMS chip that facilitates the culturing and examination of the functional interaction of two interconnected neural networks. We utilized cultures of hippocampal neurons grown in a two-chamber microfluidic chip combined with a microelectrode array. The asymmetric configuration of the microchannels between the chambers ensured the growth of axons predominantly in one direction from the Source chamber to the Target chamber, forming two neuronal networks with unidirectional synaptic connectivity. We showed that the local application of tetrodotoxin (TTX) to the Source network did not alter the spiking rate in the Target network. The results indicate that stable network activity in the Target network was maintained for at least 1-3 h after TTX application, demonstrating the feasibility of local chemical activity modulation and the influence of electrical activity from one network on the other. Additionally, suppression of synaptic activity in the Source network by the application of CPP and CNQX reorganized spatio-temporal characteristics of spontaneous and stimulus-evoked spiking activity in the Target network. The proposed methodology and results provide a more in-depth examination of the network-level functional interaction between neural circuits with heterogeneous synaptic connectivity.
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Affiliation(s)
- Yana Pigareva
- Neurotechnology Department, Lobachevsky State University of Nizhny Novgorod, Nizhny Novgorod 603950, Russia
- Central Research Laboratory, Cell Technology Department, Privolzhsky Research Medical University, Nizhny Novgorod 603005, Russia
| | - Arseniy Gladkov
- Neurotechnology Department, Lobachevsky State University of Nizhny Novgorod, Nizhny Novgorod 603950, Russia
- Central Research Laboratory, Cell Technology Department, Privolzhsky Research Medical University, Nizhny Novgorod 603005, Russia
| | - Vladimir Kolpakov
- Neurotechnology Department, Lobachevsky State University of Nizhny Novgorod, Nizhny Novgorod 603950, Russia
- Central Research Laboratory, Cell Technology Department, Privolzhsky Research Medical University, Nizhny Novgorod 603005, Russia
| | - Anton Bukatin
- Department of Nanobiotechnology, Alferov Saint-Petersburg National Research Academic University of the Russian Academy of Sciences, Saint Petersburg 194021, Russia
- Institute for Analytical Instrumentation of the RAS, Saint Petersburg 198095, Russia
| | - Sergei Li
- Neurotechnology Department, Lobachevsky State University of Nizhny Novgorod, Nizhny Novgorod 603950, Russia
| | - Victor B Kazantsev
- Neurotechnology Department, Lobachevsky State University of Nizhny Novgorod, Nizhny Novgorod 603950, Russia
- Central Research Laboratory, Cell Technology Department, Privolzhsky Research Medical University, Nizhny Novgorod 603005, Russia
| | - Irina Mukhina
- Neurotechnology Department, Lobachevsky State University of Nizhny Novgorod, Nizhny Novgorod 603950, Russia
- Central Research Laboratory, Cell Technology Department, Privolzhsky Research Medical University, Nizhny Novgorod 603005, Russia
| | - Alexey Pimashkin
- Neurotechnology Department, Lobachevsky State University of Nizhny Novgorod, Nizhny Novgorod 603950, Russia
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Delgado P, Oshinowo O, Fay ME, Luna CA, Dissanayaka A, Dorbala P, Ravindran A, Shen L, Myers DR. Universal pre-mixing dry-film stickers capable of retrofitting existing microfluidics. BIOMICROFLUIDICS 2023; 17:014104. [PMID: 36687143 PMCID: PMC9848651 DOI: 10.1063/5.0122771] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/25/2022] [Accepted: 12/12/2022] [Indexed: 06/17/2023]
Abstract
Integrating microfluidic mixers into lab-on-a-chip devices remains challenging yet important for numerous applications including dilutions, extractions, addition of reagents or drugs, and particle synthesis. High-efficiency mixers utilize large or intricate geometries that are difficult to manufacture and co-implement with lab-on-a-chip processes, leading to cumbersome two-chip solutions. We present a universal dry-film microfluidic mixing sticker that can retrofit pre-existing microfluidics and maintain high mixing performance over a range of Reynolds numbers and input mixing ratios. To attach our pre-mixing sticker module, remove the backing material and press the sticker onto an existing microfluidic/substrate. Our innovation centers around the multilayer use of laser-cut commercially available silicone-adhesive-coated polymer sheets as microfluidic layers to create geometrically complex, easy to assemble designs that can be adhered to a variety of surfaces, namely, existing microfluidic devices. Our approach enabled us to assemble the traditional yet difficult to manufacture "F-mixer" in minutes and conceptually extend this design to create a novel space-saving spiral F-mixer. Computational fluid dynamic simulations and experimental results confirmed that both designs maintained high performance for 0.1 < Re < 10 and disparate input mixing ratios of 1:10. We tested the integration of our system by using the pre-mixer to fluorescently tag proteins encapsulated in an existing microfluidic. When integrated with another microfluidic, our pre-mixing sticker successfully combined primary and secondary antibodies to fluorescently tag micropatterned proteins with high spatial uniformity, unlike a traditional pre-mixing "T-mixer" sticker. Given the ease of this technology, we anticipate numerous applications for point-of-care devices, microphysiological-systems-on-a-chip, and microfluidic-based biomedical research.
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Affiliation(s)
| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | - D. R. Myers
- Author to whom correspondence should be addressed:
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Wong JJY, Varga BV, Káradóttir RT, Hall EAH. Electrochemically induced in vitro focal hypoxia in human neurons. Front Cell Dev Biol 2022; 10:968341. [PMID: 36247014 PMCID: PMC9555746 DOI: 10.3389/fcell.2022.968341] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/18/2022] [Accepted: 09/05/2022] [Indexed: 02/02/2023] Open
Abstract
Focalised hypoxia is widely prevalent in diseases such as stroke, cardiac arrest, and dementia. While in some cases hypoxia improves cellular functions, it mostly induces or exacerbates pathological changes. The lack of methodologies that can simulate focal acute hypoxia, in either animal or cell culture, impedes our understanding of the cellular consequences of hypoxia. To address this gap, an electrochemical localised oxygen scavenging system (eLOS), is reported, providing an innovative platform for spatiotemporal in vitro hypoxia modulation. The electrochemical system is modelled showing O2 flux patterns and localised O2 scavenging and hypoxia regions, as a function of distance from the electrode and surrounding flux barriers, allowing an effective focal hypoxia tool to be designed for in vitro cell culture study. O2 concentration is reduced in an electrochemically defined targeted area from normoxia to hypoxia in about 6 min depending on the O2-flux boundaries. As a result, a cell culture-well was designed, where localised O2 scavenging could be induced. The impact of localised hypoxia was demonstrated on human neural progenitor cells (hNPCs) and it was shown that miniature focal hypoxic insults can be induced, that evoke time-dependent HIF-1α transcription factor accumulation. This transcription is "patterned" across the culture according to the electrochemically induced spatiotemporal hypoxia gradient. A basic lacunar infarct model was also developed through the application of eLOS in a purpose designed microfluidic device. Miniature focal hypoxic insults were induced in cellular processes of fully oxygenated cell bodies, such as the axons of human cortical neurons. The results demonstrate experimentally that localised axonal hypoxic stress can lead to significant increase of neuronal death, despite the neurons remaining at normoxia. This suggests that focal hypoxic insult to axons alone is sufficient to impact surrounding neurons and may provide an in vitro model to study the impact of microinfarcts occurring in the deep cerebral white matter, as well as providing a promising tool for wider understanding of acute hypoxic insults with potential to uncover its pathophysiology in multiple diseases.
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Affiliation(s)
- Joseph J Y Wong
- Department of Chemical Engineering and Biotechnology, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, United Kingdom
| | - Balazs V Varga
- Wellcome-MRC Cambridge Stem Cell Institute, Cambridge, United Kingdom
| | | | - Elizabeth A H Hall
- Department of Chemical Engineering and Biotechnology, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, United Kingdom
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