Investigating Axonal Guidance with Microdevice-Based Approaches
Journal of Neuroscience. 2013-11-06; 33(45): 17647-17655
DOI: 10.1523/jneurosci.3277-13.2013
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1. J Neurosci. 2013 Nov 6;33(45):17647-55. doi: 10.1523/JNEUROSCI.3277-13.2013.
Investigating axonal guidance with microdevice-based approaches.
Dupin I(1), Dahan M, Studer V.
Author information:
(1)Université de Bordeaux, Interdisciplinary Institute for Neuroscience, Unité
Mixte de Recherche 5297, F-33000 Bordeaux, France, Centre National de la
Recherche Scientifique, Interdisciplinary Institute for Neuroscience, Unité Mixte
de Recherche 5297, F-33000 Bordeaux, France, and Laboratoire Physico-Chimie,
Institut Curie, Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique-Unité Mixte de
Recherche 168, Université Pierre et Marie Curie-Paris 6, 75248 Paris Cedex 05,
France.
The precise wiring of the nervous system relies on processes by which axons
navigate in a complex environment and are guided by a concerted action of
attractive and repulsive factors to reach their target. Investigating these
guidance processes depends critically on our ability to control in space and time
the microenvironment of neurons. The implementation of microfabrication
techniques in cell biology now enables a precise control of the extracellular
physical and chemical environment of cultured cells. However, microtechnology is
only beginning to be applied in the field of axon guidance due to specific
requirements of neuronal cultures. Here we review microdevices specifically
designed to study axonal guidance and compare them with the conventional assays
used to probe gradient sensing in cell biology. We also discuss how innovative
microdevice-based approaches will enable the investigation of important
systems-level questions on the gradient sensing properties of nerve cells, such
as the sensitivity and robustness in the detection of directional signals or the
combinatorial response to multiple cues.
DOI: 10.1523/JNEUROSCI.3277-13.2013
PMID: 24198357 [Indexed for MEDLINE]