Functional Characterization of Three-Dimensional Cortical Cultures for In Vitro Modeling of Brain Networks.

ABSTRACT: Three-dimensional (3D) in vitro cultures recapitulate key features of the brain including morphology, cell-cell and cell-extracellular matrix interactions, gradients of factors, and mechanical properties. However, there remains a need for experimental and computational tools to investigate network functions in these 3D models. To address this need, we present an experimental system based on 3D scaffold-based cortical neuron cultures in which we expressed the genetically encoded calcium indicator GCaMP6f to record neuronal activity at the millimeter-scale. Functional neural network descriptors were computed with graph-theory-based network analysis methods, showing the formation of functional networks at 3 weeks of culture. Changes to the functional network properties upon perturbations to g

SUBMITTER: Dingle YL 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC7452433 | biostudies-literature | 2020 Aug

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature