Basic NeuroscienceSelective pharmacological manipulation of cortical-thalamic co-cultures in a dual-compartment device

In this study, we demonstrate capabilities to selectively manipulate dissociated co-cultures of neurons plated in dual-compartment devices. Synaptic receptor antagonists and tetrodotoxin solutions were used to selectively control and study the network-wide burst propagation and cell firing in cortical-cortical and cortical-thalamic co-culture systems. The results show that in cortical-thalamic dissociated co-cultures, burst events initiate in the cortical region and propagate to the thalamic region and the burst events in thalamic region can be controlled by blocking the synaptic receptors in the cortical region. Whereas, in cortical-cortical co-culture system, one of the region acts as a site of burst initiation and facilitate propagation of bursts in the entire network. Tetrodotoxin, a sodium channel blocker, when applied to either of the regions blocks the firing of neurons in that particular region with significant influence on the firing of neurons in the other region. The results demonstrate selective pharmacological manipulation capabilities of co-cultures in a dual compartment device and helps understand the effects of neuroactive compounds on networks derived from specific CNS tissues and the dynamic interaction between them.

► We demonstrated a dual compartment microfluidic system for co-culturing specific CNS cell types. ► The dual compartment system is capable of selective pharmacological manipulation of co-cultures in vitro. ► The effect of neuroacitve compounds on networks derived from specific CNS tissues was demonstrated. ► In cortical-thalamic (Cx-Th) co-cultures, synchronized network bursts initiate in the cortical compartment. ► In Cx-Th network, cortical compartment acts as a master region and controls the propagation of bursts to the thalamic region.