Microfluidic platforms for studying central nervous system disorders

Understanding mental health is one of the ‘grand challenges’ of our age. Brain disorders are top of the World Health Organisation’s agenda due to their impact and prevalence, especially with the ageing population. Alongside well-targeted treatments and prevention programmes, technological advances can drive forward our understanding of how neuronal function and communication is affected in central nervous system (CNS) disorders. In particular, miniaturised in vitro procedures enable both greater control over the formation of simplified neuronal networks that mimic in vivo conditions and minimise the use of animal models, as well as providing the enhanced capability to test neuronal functionality in order to address neuronal network communication whilst inducing disease conditions. In recent years, an increasing number of microfluidic technologies have been developed for neuronal cell culture and manipulation, providing bespoke means to improve the control and implementation of conventional neuroscience analytical procedures in a miniaturised and automatable format1,2. Development of such systems will be a significant step forward in CNS drug discovery studies, as well as allowing the investigation of cellular and sub-cellular activity under conditions mimicking those proposed to underlie CNS disorders.

The talk will focus on a range of developed microfluidic bioassays that allow cell functionality, cell-cell communication and response to chemical compounds to be studied. Examples will be shown based on stem cells & primary cells neuronal network patterning and culture to study their functional synaptic connectivity and toxicity spread. Finally, applications of the technology for drug discovery and to study neurodegenerative disorders will be presented. All together, these examples highlight the range of possibilities available through the development of multidisciplinary research based on microfluidics.

References:

  1. A. M. Taylor et al., Nat. Methods, 2005, 2, 599–605.
  2. M. Shi, et al., Lab Chip, 2013, 13, 3008–3021.
  3. G. Robertson et al., Integr. Biol., 2014, 6, 636-644.
CELL MODEL SYSTEMS SUMMER SCHOOL