Britton Chance Center for Biomedical Photonics at Wuhan National Laboratory for Optoelectronics-Hubei Bioinformatics & Molecular Imaging Key Laboratory, Department of Systems Biology, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan, China.
Anal Chim Acta. 2011 Sep 2;701(1):23-8. doi: 10.1016/j.aca.2011.06.007. Epub 2011 Jun 15.
Conventional neuronal analysis at the single neuron level usually involves culturing of neurons in vitro and analysis of neuronal activities by electrophysiological or pharmacological methods. However, the extracellular environments of in vitro neuronal analysis cannot mimic the exact surroundings of the neurons. Here, we report a microfluidic worm-chip for in vivo analysis of neuronal activities upon dynamic chemical stimulations. A comb-shaped microvalve was developed to immobilize whole animal for high-resolution imaging of neuronal activities. Using a sequential sample introduction system, multiple chemical stimuli were delivered to an individual Caenorhabditis elegans nose tip based on programmed interface shifting of laminar flows. ASH sensory neuron responses to various stimuli in individual C. elegans were quantitatively evaluated, and mutants were significantly defective in neuronal responses to certain stimulus in comparison to others. Sensory reduction in the magnitude of the response to repetitive chemical stimulation with different durations was also found. Our study explored the possibility of real-time detection of neuronal activities in individual animals upon multiple stimulations.
传统的单细胞水平神经元分析通常涉及体外培养神经元，并通过电生理或药理学方法分析神经元的活动。然而，体外神经元分析的细胞外环境无法模拟神经元的确切环境。在这里，我们报告了一种用于在体内分析动态化学刺激下神经元活动的微流控蠕虫芯片。开发了一种梳状微阀来固定整个动物，以实现对神经元活动的高分辨率成像。使用顺序样品引入系统，基于层流的编程界面移动，将多种化学刺激递送到单个秀丽隐杆线虫鼻尖。对单个秀丽隐杆线虫中各种刺激的 ASH 感觉神经元反应进行了定量评估，与其他刺激相比，突变体在神经元反应方面存在明显缺陷。还发现对不同持续时间的重复化学刺激的反应幅度的感觉降低。我们的研究探索了在多个刺激下实时检测单个动物神经元活动的可能性。
