Microfluidics; High throughput; Primary neurons; Axon length; Alzheimer's disease; Tau hyperphosphorylation; Neurotherapeutics; Cell culture; High-throughput microfluidic; single cell analysis; neural cell culture; magnetic nanoparticles; neurodegenerative diseases; brain structure; mechanical forces
Kunze Anja, Lengacher Sylvain, Dirren Elisabeth, Aebischer Patrick, Magistretti Pierre J., Renaud Philippe (2013), Astrocyte–neuron co-culture on microchips based on the model of SOD mutation to mimic ALS, in
Integrative Biology, 5(7), 964-975.
Kunze Anja, Tseng Peter, Caputo Anna, Schweizer Felix E., Di Carlo Dino (2013), Microchip based multi parameter study of magnetic nanoparticle induced neurite outgrowth, in
14th UC Systemwide Bioengineering Symposium, San Diego.
Kunze Anja, Renaud Philippe (2012), Locally induced Alzheimer’s disease in 3D microengineered neuronal cell cultures, in
Society for Neuroscience, 2012, New Orleans, LA.
Kunze Anja, Tseng Peter, Murray Coleman, Caputo Anna, Schweizer Felix E., Di Carlo Dino, MICRO MAGNET CHIPS TO STUDY NANOPARTICLE FORCE-INDUCED NEURAL. CELL MIGRATION, in
17th International Conference on Miniaturized Systems for Chemistry and Life Sciences, Freiburg, Germany.
The highly convoluted structure of the cerebral cortex determines our proper brain function. It has been hypothesized that mechanical strain, induced through corticocortical connections during morphogenesis, is the underlying driving force behind this folded landscape. The folded architecture causes coexistence of different axonal fiber lengths in the cortex. Now, many neurodegenerative diseases (ND), including Alzheimer’s, show a heterogeneous propagation pattern regarding brain structure and fiber lengths. To unscramble the relation between cortical structure and disease propagation, we propose the development of a novel microtechnology based high-throughput cell culture platform, suitable for multivariate structural parameter analysis. Indeed, current in vivo experiments cannot provide simultaneous control over structural parameters such as cortical thickness, local cell density and axonal length. Therefore, microtechnology based cell culture assays that do provide control over the 3D pattern, cell-cell interaction and local chemical gradients of nutrients and signals will represent a major achievement in the further understanding of NDs, such as Alzheimer’s. Including structural aspects in the development of neurotherapeutics against Alzheimer’s disease may help finding neuroprotective pharmaceutics.