In vitro model of CNS neuronal pathway recovery using microfluidic chips

Abstract

Development of biodegradable implants using new methods in biotechnology and neural engineering is one of the most perspective approaches in rehabilitation of central nervous system after injury and in neurodegenerative diseases. In this study we propose an experimental model of brain injury by growing two weakly coupled neuronal networks in three-chamber microfluidic chip. We modeled a functional recovery by plating a new dissociated cells in the place of weak synaptic connectivity. We showed that a weak synaptic unidirectional connections between two cultures of neuronal cells can be enhanced by integrating a new cell population into the growth site of axons. The proposed microfluidic chip design may be used to create a new type of scaffold which recovers realistic heterogeneous architecture of neuronal connectivity for rehabilitation of the brain injury.