Institute of Laser Engineering, Beijing University of Technology, Beijing, P. R. China.
Electrophoresis. 2019 Nov;40(22):2996-3004. doi: 10.1002/elps.201900168. Epub 2019 Oct 14.
Understanding the mechanism of functional connectivity in neural system is of great benefit to lot of researches and applications. Microfluidics and microelectrode arrays (MEAs) have been frequently utilized for in vitro neural cultures study. However, there are few studies on the functional connectivity of neural cultures grown on a microfluidic chip. It is intriguing to unveil the influences of microfluidic structures on in vitro neuronal networks from the perspective of functional connectivity. Hence, in the present study, a device was established, which comprised a microfluidic chamber for cell growth and a MEA substrate for recording the electrophysiological response of the neuronal networks. The network topology, neural firing rate, neural bursting rate and network burst frequency were adopted as representative characteristics for neuronal networks analysis. Functional connectivity was estimated by means of cross-covariance analysis and graph theory. The results demonstrated that the functional connectivity of the in vitro neuronal networks formed in the microchannel has been apparently reinforced, corresponding to improve neuronal network density and increased small-worldness.
理解神经系统中功能连接的机制对于许多研究和应用都非常有益。微流控和微电极阵列（MEA）已被频繁用于体外神经培养研究。然而，关于在微流控芯片上生长的神经培养物的功能连接性的研究却很少。从功能连接的角度揭示微流控结构对体外神经网络的影响是很有趣的。因此，在本研究中，建立了一种装置，该装置包括用于细胞生长的微流控室和用于记录神经元网络电生理响应的 MEA 基底。网络拓扑、神经放电率、神经爆发率和网络爆发频率被用作神经元网络分析的代表性特征。通过互协方差分析和图论来估计功能连接。结果表明，在微通道中形成的体外神经元网络的功能连接性明显增强，对应于神经元网络密度的提高和小世界特性的增加。
