Lockery S R, Lawton K J, Doll J C, Faumont S, Coulthard S M, Thiele T R, Chronis N, McCormick K E, Goodman M B, Pruitt B L
Department of Biology, University of Oregon, Eugene, Oregon 97403-1210, USA.
J Neurophysiol. 2008 Jun;99(6):3136-43. doi: 10.1152/jn.91327.2007. Epub 2008 Mar 12.
With a nervous system of only 302 neurons, the free-living nematode Caenorhabditis elegans is a powerful experimental organism for neurobiology. However, the laboratory substrate commonly used in C. elegans research, a planar agarose surface, fails to reflect the complexity of this organism's natural environment, complicates stimulus delivery, and is incompatible with high-resolution optophysiology experiments. Here we present a new class of microfluidic devices for C. elegans neurobiology and behavior: agarose-free, micron-scale chambers and channels that allow the animals to crawl as they would on agarose. One such device mimics a moist soil matrix and facilitates rapid delivery of fluid-borne stimuli. A second device consists of sinusoidal channels that can be used to regulate the waveform and trajectory of crawling worms. Both devices are thin and transparent, rendering them compatible with high-resolution microscope objectives for neuronal imaging and optical recording. Together, the new devices are likely to accelerate studies of the neuronal basis of behavior in C. elegans.
自由生活的线虫秀丽隐杆线虫只有302个神经元组成的神经系统，是神经生物学研究中一种强大的实验生物。然而，秀丽隐杆线虫研究中常用的实验室基质——平面琼脂糖表面，无法反映该生物自然环境的复杂性，使刺激传递变得复杂，并且与高分辨率光生理学实验不兼容。在此，我们展示了一类用于秀丽隐杆线虫神经生物学和行为研究的新型微流控装置：无琼脂糖的微米级腔室和通道，可让线虫像在琼脂糖上一样爬行。其中一种装置模拟潮湿的土壤基质，并便于快速传递液体携带的刺激。另一种装置由正弦通道组成，可用于调节爬行线虫的波形和轨迹。这两种装置都很薄且透明，使其与用于神经元成像和光学记录的高分辨率显微镜物镜兼容。总之，这些新装置可能会加速对秀丽隐杆线虫行为的神经基础的研究。
