Stiff substrates enhance cultured neuronal network activity

Stiff substrates enhance cultured neuronal network activity

The mechanical property of extracellular matrix and cell-supporting substrates is known to modulate neuronal growth, differentiation, extension and branching. Here we show that substrate stiffness is an important microenvironmental cue, to which mouse hippocampal neurons respond and integrate into synapse formation and transmission in cultured neuronal network. Hippocampal neurons were cultured...

Patterning to enhance activity of cultured neuronal networks.

Embryonic rat hippocampal neurons were cultured in order to gain insights into how small networks of neurons interact. The principal observations are the electrical activities recorded with the electrode arrays, primarily action potentials both spontaneous and evoked. Several lithographic techniques were developed for controlling with micrometer precision the patterns of surface molecules in or...

Stiff substrates enhance monocytic cell capture through E-selectin but not P-selectin.

The stiffening of blood vessel walls is associated with inflammatory diseases, including atherosclerosis, diabetes, and obesity. These diseases are driven by the excessive recruitment of inflammatory leukocytes out of the bloodstream and into tissues, but whether vascular stiffening plays a direct role in this process is not clear. In this study, we investigated the possibility that leukocyte c...

Neuronal density determines network connectivity and spontaneous activity in cultured hippocampus.

The effects of neuronal density on morphological and functional attributes of the evolving networks were studied in cultured dissociated hippocampal neurons. Plating at different densities affected connectivity among the neurons, such that sparse networks exhibited stronger synaptic connections between pairs of recorded neurons. This was associated with different patterns of spontaneous network...

Response of Cultured Neuronal Network Activity After High-Intensity Power Frequency Magnetic Field Exposure