Analysis of neurite length of hippocampal neurons cultured into 3D artificial network patterned microfluidic chips.

The study aims to lay a foundational probe for the thorough application microfluidic chips in brain function research with microfluidic chips. Neuron slide culture is a common culture method , and the microfluidic chip with the artificial network pattern not only can realize neuron cells 3 D culture , but also limit the extension space of neurite outgrow. In order to analyze the differences of hippocampal cells neurite growth length between the 3 D chips and the common 2 D culture, the experiments utilized statistical analysis method analyzing the length of the hippocampus neuron neurite of 3 days, 5 days and 7 days, respectively, with the common glass slide 2 D culture method and the microfluidic chip 3 D culture . The results showed that there was no significant difference in the neurite length after 3 days. However, there was a significant difference after 5 days and 7 days. It can be seen that the microfluidic chip with artificial network pattern has limitations to the growth of neurite after 5 days. We concluded that the growth state of hippocampal cells in the restricted 3 D space is different from that of conventional 2 D culture.It showed that the artificial network pattern design has limited the growth space of the dendrites but also affected its growth.