Thermoplasmonic neural chip platform for in situ manipulation of neuronal connections in vitro

Hong, Nari; Nam, Yoonkey

doi:10.1038/s41467-020-20060-z

Cited by 27 publications

(24 citation statements)

References 40 publications

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“…Photothermal etching uses a cell-repulsive agarose hydrogel which can be melted by heat. The heat was generated by a photo-absorber layer including indium-tin oxide (λ = 1,064 nm) ( Suzuki et al, 2004 ), chromium (λ = 1,064 nm) ( Hattori et al, 2004 ), or gold nanorods (λ = 785 or 808 nm) ( Hong and Nam, 2020 ) with a focused laser beam. Depending on the laser wavelength (λ = 1,480 nm), the direct heating and melting of an agarose hydrogel were also possible ( Hattori et al, 2004 ; Suzuki et al, 2005 ).…”

Section: In Situ Control Of Neurite Outgrowthmentioning

confidence: 99%

Neurons-on-a-Chip: In Vitro NeuroTools

Hong

Nam

2022

Molecules and Cells

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Neurons-on-a-Chip technology has been developed to provide diverse in vitro neuro-tools to study neuritogenesis, synaptogensis, axon guidance, and network dynamics. The two core enabling technologies are soft-lithography and microelectrode array technology. Soft lithography technology made it possible to fabricate microstamps and microfluidic channel devices with a simple replica molding method in a biological laboratory and innovatively reduced the turn-around time from assay design to chip fabrication, facilitating various experimental designs. To control nerve cell behaviors at the single cell level via chemical cues, surface biofunctionalization methods and micropatterning techniques were developed. Microelectrode chip technology, which provides a functional readout by measuring the electrophysiological signals from individual neurons, has become a popular platform to investigate neural information processing in networks. Due to these key advances, it is possible to study the relationship between the network structure and functions, and they have opened a new era of neurobiology and will become standard tools in the near future.

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Section: In Situ Control Of Neurite Outgrowthmentioning

confidence: 99%

Neurons-on-a-Chip: In Vitro NeuroTools

Hong

Nam

2022

Molecules and Cells

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“…It is also possible to direct neuron outgrowth by micropatterning and microstructures on the culture surface [57][58][59][60][61]. Application of technologies that dynamically change the patterns on the culture surface by light or heat have been invented as well [62][63][64][65]. Additionally, more advanced axon-controlling methods such as microrobot and microplates have been proposed [66][67][68].…”

Section: Brain Organoidsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Advances in construction and modeling of functional neural circuits in vitro

Chow

Osaki

et al. 2022

Neurochem Res

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Over the years, techniques have been developed to culture and assemble neurons, which brought us closer to creating neuronal circuits that functionally and structurally mimic parts of the brain. Starting with primary culture of neurons, preparations of neuronal culture have advanced substantially. Development of stem cell research and brain organoids has opened a new path for generating three-dimensional human neural circuits. Along with the progress in biology, engineering technologies advanced and paved the way for construction of neural circuit structures. In this article, we overview research progress and discuss perspective of in vitro neural circuits and their ability and potential to acquire functions. Construction of in vitro neural circuits with complex higher-order functions would be achieved by converging development in diverse major disciplines including neuroscience, stem cell biology, tissue engineering, electrical engineering and computer science.

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“…However, due to the inherent fabrication and physiological difficulties, nanoscale guidance has, to our knowledge, so far been neglected. State-of-the-art studies have used microscale features to control neuron position, , axon guidance, , or both ,,− but without control over synapse formation. Consequently, there are no dedicated tools/methods to precisely impose where, and between which neurons, synapses forma key limitation in the study of neuronal microcircuits.…”

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confidence: 99%

Nanoscale Patterning of In Vitro Neuronal Circuits

Mateus

Weaver

Swaay³

et al. 2022

ACS Nano

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Methods for patterning neurons in vitro have gradually improved and are used to investigate questions that are difficult to address in or ex vivo. Though these techniques guide axons between groups of neurons, multiscale control of neuronal connectivity, from circuits to synapses, is yet to be achieved in vitro. As studying neuronal circuits with synaptic resolution in vivo poses significant challenges, we present an in vitro alternative to validate biophysical and computational models. In this work we use a combination of electron beam lithography and photolithography to create polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) structures with features ranging from 150 nm to a few millimeters. Leveraging the difference between average axon and dendritic spine diameters, we restrict axon growth while allowing spines to pass through nanochannels to guide synapse formation between small groups of neurons (i.e., nodes). We show this technique can be used to generate large numbers of isolated feed-forward circuits where connections between nodes are restricted to regions connected by nanochannels. Using a genetically encoded calcium indicator in combination with fluorescently tagged postsynaptic protein, PSD-95, we demonstrate functional synapses can form in this region.

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Thermoplasmonic neural chip platform for in situ manipulation of neuronal connections in vitro

Cited by 27 publications

References 40 publications

Neurons-on-a-Chip: In Vitro NeuroTools

Neurons-on-a-Chip: In Vitro NeuroTools

Advances in construction and modeling of functional neural circuits in vitro

Nanoscale Patterning of In Vitro Neuronal Circuits

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