Abstract
Bioengineering systems have transformed scientific knowledge of cellular behaviors in the nervous system (NS) and pioneered innovative, regenerative therapies to treat adult neural disorders. Microscale systems with characteristic lengths of single to hundreds of microns have examined the development and specialized behaviors of numerous neuromuscular and neurosensory components of the NS. The visual system is comprised of the eye sensory organ and its connecting pathways to the visual cortex. Significant vision loss arises from dysfunction in the retina, the photosensitive tissue at the eye posterior that achieves phototransduction of light to form images in the brain. Retinal regenerative medicine has embraced microfluidic technologies to manipulate stem-like cells for transplantation therapies, where de/differentiated cells are introduced within adult tissue to replace dysfunctional or damaged neurons. Microfluidic systems coupled with stem cell biology and biomaterials have produced exciting advances to restore vision. The current article reviews contemporary microfluidic technologies and microfluidics-enhanced bioassays, developed to interrogate cellular responses to adult retinal cues. The focus is on applications of microfluidics and microscale assays within mammalian sensory retina, or neuro retina, comprised of five types of retinal neurons (photoreceptors, horizontal, bipolar, amacrine, retinal ganglion) and one neuroglia (Müller), but excludes the non-sensory, retinal pigmented epithelium.
Highlights
Biomedical research has embraced microscale and microfluidic technologies to examine cellular behaviors and their responses to endogenous and therapeutic stimuli [1,2]
Microfluidics have become central to regenerative medicine, where the intersection of technology, biology, and clinical science has advanced contemporary therapies for genetic and degenerative Nervous System (NS) disorders [17,18,19]
Microscale studies measure statistically-significant changes in cell responses over time to aid development and validation of emerging strategies using new cell groups, novel extracellular matrix molecules, and underexplored external stimulus fields. These advantages provide unique opportunities for microsystems to shepherd the success of retinal transplantation in adults, as microfluidic strategies facilitate controlled study of contemporary treatments in the visual system that are already applied in the brain, such as electro-modulation and pulsed electromagnetic fields
Summary
Biomedical research has embraced microscale and microfluidic technologies to examine cellular behaviors and their responses to endogenous and therapeutic stimuli [1,2]. These include the differentiation of specialized cells, migration towards concentration gradients, and biochemical signaling induced by extracellular factors, among many others [3,4,5]. The scale and precision of microfluidics offer exceptional advantages for quantitative study within miniaturized biological structures, including microvascular beds, the interstitium, and extracellular matrix [6,7,8]. Microfluidics have become central to regenerative medicine, where the intersection of technology, biology, and clinical science has advanced contemporary therapies for genetic and degenerative NS disorders [17,18,19]
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