Compartmentalized Microfluidic Platforms: The Unrivaled Breakthrough ofIn VitroTools for Neurobiological Research

Abstract

Microfluidic technology has become a valuable tool to the scientific community, allowing researchers to study fine cellular mechanisms with higher variable control compared with conventional systems. It has evolved tremendously, and its applicability and flexibility made its usage grow exponentially and transversely to several research fields. This has been particularly noticeable in neuroscience research, where microfluidic platforms made it possible to address specific questions extending from axonal guidance, synapse formation, or axonal transport to the development of 3D models of the CNS to allow pharmacological testing and drug screening. Furthermore, the continuous upgrade of microfluidic platforms has allowed a deeper study of the communication occurring between different neuronal and glial cells or between neurons and other peripheral tissues, both in physiological and pathological conditions. Importantly, the evolution of microfluidic technology has always been accompanied by the development of new computational tools addressing data acquisition, analysis, and modeling.

Neuromuscular Activity Induces Paracrine Signaling and Triggers Axonal Regrowth after Injury in Microfluidic Lab-On-Chip Devices

“…Since the implementation of the compartmentalized neuronal cell culture [1] years ago [2,3], microfluidic technology, micropatterning, and microfabrication allowing spatial and fluidic segregation of neuronal soma from axons [4] have greatly improved. This technology has permitted real-time monitoring of physiological events, thus becoming a key reference technique for many researchers and laboratories (see also [5,6] for review). Additionally, some studies have also reported different ways to lesion axons on lab-on-chip devices (i.e., [7]).…”

Using stem cell–derived neurons in drug screening for neurological diseases

“…Developments in the field of microfluidics may also play an important role in improving the physiological relevance of in vitro models for neurological diseases and the use of iPSCderived neurons in drug screening (reviewed recently in Neto et al, 2016;Nys and Fillet, 2018;Regnault et al, 2018). The field of microfluidics is relevant to drug screening for several reasons.…”

Three‐Dimensional Models of the Human Brain Development and Diseases

“…The use of microfluidic systems and tools for neurobiology applications has been recently reviewed. [26–30] In this section, we limit the discussion to representative examples of microfluidic systems in the content of neuropathology.…”

“…[30,49,50] For example, a high-throughput microarray utilizing the compartmentalized microfluidic platform was recently employed for quantitative screening of synaptogenesis in large-scale (Figure 3B). [50] By using this high-throughput platform, authors screened a chemical library that leads to discovery of class I histone deacetylase inhibitors as potential regulators of neuroligin-1-induced synaptogenesis pathway.…”