Issue 4, 2013
From the journal:

Lab on a Chip

Optical stimulation and imaging of functional brain circuitry in a segmented laminar flow chamber

Siavash Ahrar,†a   Transon V. Nguyen,†a   Yulin Shi,b   Taruna Ikrar,b   Xiangmin Xu*ab  and  Elliot E. Hui*a  

* Corresponding authors

a Department of Biomedical Engineering, University of California, Irvine, CA 92697-2715, United States
E-mail: eehui@uci.edu
Fax: 01 949 824 1727
Tel: 01 949 824 8723

b Department of Anatomy and Neurobiology, School of Medicine, University of California, Irvine, CA 92697-1275, United States
E-mail: xiangmix@uci.edu

Abstract

Microfluidic technology is emerging as a useful tool for the study of brain slices, offering precise delivery of chemical factors along with robust oxygen and nutrient transport. However, continued reliance upon electrode-based physiological recording poses inherent limitations in terms of physical access, as well as the number of sites that can be sampled simultaneously. In the present study, we combine a microfluidic laminar flow chamber with fast voltage-sensitive dye imaging and laser photostimulation via caged glutamate to map neural network activity across large cortical regions in living brain slices. We find that the closed microfluidic chamber results in greatly improved signal-to-noise performance for optical measurements of neural signaling. These optical tools are also leveraged to characterize laminar flow interfaces within the device, demonstrating a functional boundary width of less than 100 μm. Finally, we utilize this integrated platform to investigate the mechanism of signal propagation for spontaneous neural activity in the developing mouse hippocampus. Through the use of localized Ca2+ depletion, we provide evidence for Ca2+-dependent synaptic transmission.

Graphical abstract: Optical stimulation and imaging of functional brain circuitry in a segmented laminar flow chamber

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Article information

DOI
https://doi.org/10.1039/C2LC40689F
Article type
Paper
Submitted
19 Jun 2012
Accepted
31 Aug 2012
First published
04 Sep 2012

Lab Chip, 2013,13, 536-541

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Optical stimulation and imaging of functional brain circuitry in a segmented laminar flow chamber

S. Ahrar, T. V. Nguyen, Y. Shi, T. Ikrar, X. Xu and E. E. Hui, Lab Chip, 2013, 13, 536 DOI: 10.1039/C2LC40689F

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