Microfabrication- and microfluidics-based patterning of cultured neuronal network

The cultured neuronal monolayer has been a promising model system for studying the neuronal dynamics, from single cell to network-wide level. Randomness in the reconstituted network structure has, however, hindered regulated signal transmissions from one neuron to another or from one neuronal population to another. Applying microfabrication-based cell patterning techniques is a promising approach to handling these problems. In the present study, we attempt to regulate the direction of axon development and the pathway of signal transmissions in cultured neuronal networks using micro-fabrication and - fluidic techniques. We created a PDMS-based culture device, which consisted of arrays of U-shaped cell trapping microwells, and placed it onto a chemically micropatterned glass substrate. After 6 days in vitro, we confirmed that cortical neurons extended neurites along the medium flow direction and the micropatterned regions.