Novel Approaches to the Establishment of Local Microenvironment from Resorbable Biomaterials in the Brain In Vitro Models

Abstract

The development of brain in vitro models requires the application of novel biocompatible materials and biopolymers as scaffolds for controllable and effective cell growth and functioning. The “ideal” brain in vitro model should demonstrate the principal features of brain plasticity like synaptic transmission and remodeling, neurogenesis and angiogenesis, and changes in the metabolism associated with the establishment of new intercellular connections. Therefore, the extracellular scaffolds that are helpful in the establishment and maintenance of local microenvironments supporting brain plasticity mechanisms are of critical importance. In this review, we will focus on some carbohydrate metabolites—lactate, pyruvate, oxaloacetate, malate—that greatly contribute to the regulation of cell-to-cell communications and metabolic plasticity of brain cells and on some resorbable biopolymers that may reproduce the local microenvironment enriched in particular cell metabolites.

Current progress and challenges in the development of brain tissue models: How to grow up the changeable brain in vitro?

“…neurotransmitters, growth factors, metabolites) needed for the regulation of cells fate at different stages of their development; (iii) establishment of concentration gradients of molecules in transwell systems or within the microfluidic platforms for the controlled proliferation, differentiation and migration of newly-born cells; (iv) maintaining the long-lived multicellular ensembles recapitulating the whole cycle of neurogenesis in vitro with the permanent monitoring of cells expression pattern, their proliferation and differentiation capacity. 239 – 243 …”

Leveraging Biomaterial Platforms to Study Aging-Related Neural and Muscular Degeneration

“…We first provide a brief overview of the types of biomaterials that have been developed for these purposes, emphasizing recent advancements in dynamic biomaterials. For a more detailed overview of biomaterial properties and their impact on 3D cell culture models, readers are directed to several recent review articles [41][42][43][44][45][46][47]. We subsequently provide a more detailed account of the use of such material-based approaches to model the neural and muscular systems in order to investigate the pathophysiology of aging.…”