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Engineered Microdevices to Study and Manipulate Neural Stem Cell Chemotaxis

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Book cover Extracellular Matrix

Part of the book series: Neuromethods ((NM,volume 93))

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Abstract

Traditional in vitro chemotaxis tools are typically limited by unstable concentration gradients, presence of hydrodynamic shear, and the inability to decouple cell migration directionality and speed. These limitations have restricted the reproducible and quantitative analysis of neuronal migration, which is a requirement for mechanism-based studies that may guide the development of new therapeutic strategies for neural regeneration. Here we describe a microfluidic setup for creating stable, linear, and shear-free gradients of putative chemotactic cues and their application in quantifying chemotaxis (i.e., migration directionality) and migration speed of human neural progenitor cells (NPCs). These devices can be coated with various extracellular matrix (ECM) proteins for the study of two-dimensional (2D) migration or filled with ECM hydrogels (e.g., collagen I or Matrigel) for the study of three-dimensional (3D) migration.

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Acknowledgment

Work was supported by NIH 1T32-HL098049-01A1 to the Stanford Cardiovascular Institute (H.X.), NIH R21-AR062359-01, and 1DP2-OD006477-01 (S.C.H.).

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Materials Science & Engineering, Stanford University, McCullough Room 246, 476 Lomita Mall, Stanford, CA, 94305-4045, USA

    Hui Xu & Sarah C. Heilshorn

Authors
  1. Hui Xu
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  2. Sarah C. Heilshorn
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Sarah C. Heilshorn .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. University of Maryland, Baltimore County, Baltimore, Maryland, USA

    Jennie B. Leach

  2. Department of Anatomy & Neurobiology, University of Maryland School of Medicine, Baltimore, Maryland, USA

    Elizabeth M. Powell

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Xu, H., Heilshorn, S.C. (2015). Engineered Microdevices to Study and Manipulate Neural Stem Cell Chemotaxis. In: Leach, J., Powell, E. (eds) Extracellular Matrix. Neuromethods, vol 93. Humana Press, New York, NY. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4939-2083-9_16

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4939-2083-9_16

  • Published:

  • Publisher Name: Humana Press, New York, NY

  • Print ISBN: 978-1-4939-2082-2

  • Online ISBN: 978-1-4939-2083-9

  • eBook Packages: Springer Protocols

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