Development of a Novel Platform for in vitro Electrophysiological Recording

The accurate monitoring of cell electrical activity is of fundamental importance for pharmaceutical research and pre-clinical trials that impose to check the cardiotoxicity of all new drugs. Traditional methods for preclinical evaluation of drug cardiotoxicity exploit animal models, which tend to be expensive, low throughput, and exhibit species-specific differences in cardiac physiology (Mercola, Colas and Willems, 2013). Alternative approaches use heterologous expression of cardiac ion channels in non-cardiac cells transfected with genetic material. However, the use of these constructs and the inhibition of specific ionic currents alone is not predictive of cardiotoxicity. Drug toxicity evaluation based on the human ether-\ue0-go-go-related gene (hERG) channel, for example, leads to a high rate of false-positive cardiotoxic compounds, increasing drug attrition at the preclinical stage. Consequently, from 2013, the Comprehensive in Vitro Proarrhythmia Assay (CiPA) initiative focused on experimental methods that identify cardiotoxic drugs and to improve upon prior models that have largely used alterations in the hERG potassium ion channel. The most predictive models for drug cardiotoxicity must recapitulate the complex spatial distribution of the physiologically distinct myocytes of the intact adult human heart. However, intact human heart preparations are inherently too costly, difficult to maintain, and, hence, too low throughput to be implemented early in the drug development pipeline. For these reasons the optimization of methodologies to differentiate human induced Pluripotent Stem Cells (hiPSCs) into cardiomyocytes (CMs) enabled human CMs to be mass-produced in vitro for cardiovascular disease modeling and drug screening (Sharma, Wu and Wu, 2013). These hiPSC-CMs functionally express most of the ion channels and sarcomeric proteins found in adult human CMs and can spontaneously contract. Recent results from the CiPA initiative have confirmed that, if utilized appropriately, the hiPSC-CM platform can serve as a reliable alternative to existing hERG assays for evaluating arrhythmogenic compounds and can sensitively detect the action potential repolarization effects associated with ion channel\u2013blocking drugs (Millard et al., 2018). Data on drug-induced toxicity in hiPSC-CMs have already been successfully collected by using several functional readouts, such as field potential traces using multi-electrode array (MEA) technology (Clements, 2016), action potentials via voltage-sensitive dyes (VSD) (Blinova et al., 2017) and cellular impedance (Scott et al., 2014). Despite still under discussion, scientists reached a consensus on the value of using electrophysiological data from hiPSC-CM for predicting cardiotoxicity and how it\u2019s possible to further optimize hiPSC-CM-based in vitro assays for acute and chronic cardiotoxicity assessment. In line with CiPA, therefore, the use of hiPSC coupled with MEA technology has been selected as promising readout for these kind of experiments. These platforms are used as an experimental model for studying the cardiac Action Potentials (APs) dynamics and for understanding some fundamental principles about the APs propagation and synchronization in healthy heart tissue. MEA technology utilizes recordings from an array of electrodes embedded in the culture surface of a well. When cardiomyocytes are grown on these surfaces, spontaneous action potentials from a cluster of cardiomyocytes, the so called functional syncytium, can be detected as fluctuations in the extracellular field potential (FP). MEA measures the change in FP as the action potential propagates through the cell monolayer relative to the recording electrode, neverthless FP in the MEA do not allows to recapitualte properly the action potential features. It is clear, therefore, that a MEA technology itself is not enough to implement cardiotoxicity assays on hIPSCs-CMs. Under this issue, researchers spread in the world started to think about solutions to achieve a platform able to works both at the same time as a standard MEA and as a patch clamp, allowing the recording of extracellular signals as usual, with the opportunity to switch to intracellular-like signals from the cytosol. This strong interest stimulated the development of methods for intracellular recording of action potentials. Currently, the most promising results are represented by multi-electrode arrays (MEA) decorated with 3D nanostructures that were introduced in pioneering papers (Robinson et al., 2012; Xie et al., 2012), culminating with the recent work from the group of H. Park (Abbott et al., 2017) and of F. De Angelis (Dipalo et al., 2017). In these articles, they show intracellular recordings on electrodes refined with 3D nanopillars after electroporation and laser optoporation from different kind of cells. However, the requirement of 3D nanostructures set strong limitations to the practical spreading of these techniques. Thus, despite pioneering results have been obtained exploiting laser optoporation, these technologies neither been applied to practical cases nor reached the commercial phase. This PhD thesis introduces the concept of meta-electrodes coupled with laser optoporation for high quality intracellular signals from hiPSCs-CM. These signals can be recorded on high-density commercial CMOS-MEAs from 3Brain characterized by thousands of electrode covered by a thin film of porous Platinum without any rework of the devices, 3D nanostructures or circuitry for electroporation7. Subsequently, I attempted to translate these unique features of low invasiveness and reliability to other commercial MEA platforms, in order to develop a new tool for cardiac electrophysiological accurate recordings. The whole thesis is organized in three main sections: a first single chapters that will go deeper in the scientific and technological background, including an explanation of the cell biology of hiPSCs-CM followed by a full overview of MEA technology and devices. Then, I will move on state-of-the-art approaches of intracellular recording, discussing many works from the scientific literature. A second chapter will describe the main objectives of the whole work, and a last chapter with the main results of the activity. A final chapter will resume and recapitulate the conclusion of the work

Developing an In Vitro Assay for Detection and Characterization of Functional Connectivity within Transplantation Candidate Embryonic Stem Cell-Derived V2a Interneuron Networks

Facilitating plasticity after spinal cord injury tends to be the focus of most modern interventions for this condition. In particular, stem cell therapies attempt to both modulate and mimic some of the native plasticity after injury through multiple mechanisms. One such mechanism, the creation of new exogenous relay circuits bridging the injury, has been explored extensively, revealing serious impediments to its optimization and adoption for clinical settings. Our collaborator, the Sakiyama-Elbert group, has spent years addressing the first limitation, the variability of cellular graft composition, by perfecting protocols to generate embryonic stem cell (ESC)-derived populations of neurons with pre-determined genetic identity. Recently, they developed a protocol to develop highly-enriched populations of Chx10-expressing V2a interneurons (INs), a ventral interneuron population that has garnered recent interest due to its role in central pattern generating function and favorable phenotypic properties. This predominantly glutamatergic and long, ipsilaterally projecting population appears to be a prime candidate for transplantation therapies for SCI, especially for the creation of relay circuits that can potentially circumnavigate injuries. The research documented in this thesis attempts to begin to address the second limitation of stem cell transplantation therapy, our minimal understanding of intra-graft network connectivity after transplantation. Due to the limitations of current techniques for evaluating the connectivity of populations like ESC-derived V2a INs, the relationship between functional recovery and the functional properties of the novel circuits formed within the graft still eludes researchers. This thesis focuses on the development of an assay capable of rapidly detecting connectivity within ESC-derived candidate populations. By extending previous work in the stem cell field, we combine in vitro multi-electrode arrays (MEAs) with an extensively studied metric of functional connectivity, cross-correlation, to detect and characterize individual functional connections between ESC-derived neurons. We first validated this assay by culturing ESC-derived populations differentiated for increased expression of Chx10 on MEAs. We found that both dissociated and aggregated cultures formed functional busting networks with significant functional connectivity detected with the use of Between-Sample Analysis of Connectivity, a methodology originally developed for in vitro circadian networks. Aggregated networks, however, had much more consistent electrode coverage and individual neuron detection that dissociated networks. After this validation study, we characterized the functional connectivity within highly-enriched populations of ESC-V2a INs, comparing their connectivity to populations of ESC-MN/glia and mixed populations of ESC-V2a/MN/glia. We found that ESC-MN/glia aggregates formed active networks with a variety of activity and functional connectivity that was dependent on the transmission of glutamate. ESC-V2a INs could only survive out to the 4-week time point if they were grown in media conditioned with glial factors, but these cultures still lacked spontaneous extracellular activity. Mixed ESC-V2a/MN/glia populations formed the most active networks and had thousands of detectable connections which were also dependent on glutamate transmission. Application of glycine antagonist modulated network activity but the underlying cause is fairly inconclusive due to possible secondary effects. High growth factor concentrations in the growth media actually decreased network activity and detectable functional connections in the mixed populations. All of these findings in this proof of concept study collectively suggest that a mixture of ESC-V2a INs and ESC-MN/glia may be the most viable candidate for transplantation and sets the stage for future investigations into the manipulability of their connectivity with electrical stimulation, as well as scaled versions of this assay performed in combination with animal studies

In vitro neuronal cultures on MEA: an engineering approach to study physiological and pathological brain networks

Reti neuronali accoppiate a matrici di microelettrodi: un metodo ingegneristico per studiare reti cerebrali in situazioni fisiologiche e patologich

Otimização de um método baseado em matrizes de multi-elétrodos (MEA) para o estudo do impacto do Aβ na linha celular SH-SY5Y

Mestrado em Biomedicina MolecularThe human brain stores, integrates, and transmits information recurring to millions of neurons, interconnected by countless synapses. Though neurons communicate through chemical signaling, information is coded and conducted in the form of electrical signals. Neuroelectrophysiology focus on the study of this type of signaling. Both intra and extracellular approaches are used in research, but none holds as much potential in high-throughput screening and drug discovery, as extracellular recordings using multielectrode arrays (MEAs). MEAs measure neuronal activity, both in vitro and in vivo. Their key advantage is the capability to record electrical activity at multiple sites simultaneously. Alzheimer’s disease (AD) is the most common neurodegenerative disease and one of the leading causes of death worldwide. It is characterized by neurofibrillar tangles and aggregates of amyloid-β (Aβ) peptides, which lead to the loss of synapses and ultimately neuronal death. Currently, there is no cure and the drugs available can only delay its progression. In vitro MEA assays enable rapid screening of neuroprotective and neuroharming compounds. Therefore, MEA recordings are of great use in both AD basic and clinical research. The main aim of this thesis was to optimize the formation of SH-SY5Y neuronal networks on MEAs. These can be extremely useful for facilities that do not have access to primary neuronal cultures, but can also save resources and facilitate obtaining faster high-throughput results to those that do. Adhesion-mediating compounds proved to impact cell morphology, viability and exhibition of spontaneous electrical activity. Moreover, SH-SY5Y cells were successfully differentiated and demonstrated acute effects on neuronal function after Aβ addition. This effect on electrical signaling was dependent on Aβ oligomers concentration. The results here presented allow us to conclude that the SH-SY5Y cell line can be successfully differentiated in properly coated MEAs and be used for assessing acute Aβ effects on neuronal signaling.O cérebro humano armazena, integra e transmite informação recorrendo a milhões de neurónios, interconetados por inúmeras sinapses. Embora os neurónios comuniquem entre si através de sinais químicos, a informação é codificada e conduzida sob a forma de sinais elétricos. A neuroeletrofisiologia foca-se no estudo deste tipo de sinalização. Tanto abordagens intra, como abordagens extracelulares são usadas em investigação, mas nenhuma detém tanto potencial em screening de alto débito e na descoberta de fármacos, como medições extracelulares baseadas em matrizes de multi-elétrodos (MEA). MEAs medem a atividade neuronal, tanto em in vitro como em in vivo. A sua principal vantagem é a capacidade de medir atividade elétrica a partir de vários locais simultaneamente. A doença de Alzheimer (DA) é a doença neurodegenerativa mais comum e uma das principais causas de morte em todo o mundo. É caracterizada por emaranhados neurofibrilares e agregados de péptidos amilóides (Aβ), que conduzem à perda de sinapses e em última instância, à morte neuronal. Atualmente, não existe cura e os tratamentos disponíveis apenas retardam a sua progressão. Os ensaios in vitro com MEA permitem uma seleção rápida dos compostos neuroprotectores e neurotóxicos. Portanto, as medições com recurso a MEA são de grande utilidade na investigação básica e clínica da DA. O principal objetivo desta tese foi otimizar a formação de redes neuronais SH-SY5Y em MEAs. Estas podem ser extremamente úteis para instalações que não têm acesso a culturas neuronais primárias, mas também podem economizar recursos e facilitar a obtenção mais rápida de resultados para aquelas que têm acesso. Compostos mediadores de adesão provaram afetar a morfologia, viabilidade e a exibição espontânea de atividade elétrica das células. Além disso, as células SH-SY5Y foram diferenciadas com sucesso e demonstraram efeitos agudos sobre a função neuronal após a adição de Aβ. Este efeito sobre a sinalização elétrica foi dependente da concentração dos oligómeros de Aβ. Os resultados aqui apresentados permitem concluir que a linha celular SH-SY5Y pode ser diferenciada com sucesso em MEAs devidamente tratados e pode ser usada para avaliar os efeitos agudos do Aβ sobre a sinalização neuronal

Patterned Cell Cultures For High Throughput Studies Of Cell Electrophysiology And Drug Screening Applications

Over the last decade, the field of tissue and bio-engineering has seen an increase in the development of in vitro high-throughput hybrid systems that can be used to understand cell function and behavior at the cellular and tissue levels. These tools would have a wide array of applications including for implants, drug discovery, and toxicology, as well as for studying cell developmental behavior and as disease models. Currently, there are a limited number of efficient, functional drug screening assays in the pharmacology industry and studies of cell-surface interactions are complicated and invasive. Most cell physiology studies are performed using conventional patch-clamp techniques or random networks cultured on silicon devices such as Microelectrode Arrays (MEAs) and Field Effect transistors (FETs). The objective of this study was to develop high-throughput in vitro platforms that could be used to analyze cell function and their response to various stimuli. Our hypothesis was that by utilizing surface modification to provide external guidance cues for various cell types and by controlling the cell environment in terms of culture conditions, we could develop an in vitro hybrid platform for sensing and testing applications. Such a system would not only give information regarding the surface effects on the growth and behavior of cells for implant development applications, but also allow for the study of vital cell physiology parameters like conduction velocity in cardiomyocytes and synaptic plasticity in neuronal networks. This study outlines the development of these in vitro high throughput systems that have varied applications ranging from tissue engineering to drug development. We have developed a simple and relatively high-throughput method in order to test the physiological effects of varying iii chemical environments on rat embryonic cardiac myocytes in order to model the degradation effects of polymer scaffolds. Our results, using our simple test system, are in agreement with earlier observations that utilized a complex 3D biodegradable scaffold. Thus, surface functionalization with self-assembled monolayers combined with histological/physiological testing could be a relatively high throughput method for biocompatibility studies and for the optimization of the material/tissue interface in tissue engineering. Traditional multielectrode extracellular recording methods were combined with surface patterning of cardiac myocyte monolayers to enhance the information content of the method; for example, to enable the measurement of conduction velocity, refractory period after action potentials or to create a functional reentry model. Two drugs, 1-Heptanol, a gap junction blocker, and Sparfloxacin, a fluoroquinone antibiotic, were tested in this system. 1-Heptanol administration resulted in a marked reduction in conduction velocity, whereas Sparfloxacin caused rapid, irregular and unsynchronized activity, indicating fibrillation. As shown in these experiments, the patterning of cardiac myocyte monolayers increased the information content of traditional multielectrode measurements. Patterning techniques with self-assembled monolayers on microelectrode arrays were also used to study the physiological properties of hippocampal networks with functional unidirectional connectivity, developed to study the mono-synaptic connections found in the dentate gyrus. Results indicate that changes in synaptic connectivity and strength were chemically induced in these patterned hippocampal networks. This method is currently being used for studying long term potentiation at the cellular level. For this purpose, two cell patterns were optimized for cell migration onto the pattern as demonstrated by time lapse studies, and for iv supporting the best pattern formation and cell survival on these networks. The networks formed mature interconnected spiking neurons. In conclusion, this study demonstrates the development and testing of in vitro highthroughput systems that have applications in drug development, understanding disease models and tissue engineering. It can be further developed for use with human cells to have a more predictive value than existing complex, expensive and time consuming methods

Electrophysiological evidence of RML12 mosquito cell line towards neuronal differentiation by 20-hydroxyecdysdone

Continuous cell lines from insect larval tissues are widely used in different research domains, such as virology, insect immunity, gene expression, and bio pharmacology. Previous study showed that introduction of 20-hydroxyecdysone to Spodoptera cell line induced a neuron-like morphology with neurite extensions. Despite some results suggesting potential presence of neuro-receptors, no study so far has shown that these neuron-induced cells were functional. Here, using microelectrode arrays, we showed that the mosquito cell line, RML12, differentiated with 20-hydroxyecdysone, displays spontaneous electrophysiological activity. Results showed that these cells can be stimulated by GABAergic antagonist as well as nicotinic agonist. These results provide new evidence of neuron-like functionality of 20-hydroxyecdysone induced differentiated mosquito cell line. Finally, we used this new model to test the effects of two insecticides, temephos and permethrin. Our analysis revealed significant changes in the spiking activity after the introduction of these insecticides with prolonged effect on the neuronal activity. We believe that this differentiated mosquito neuronal cell model can be used for high-throughput screening of new pesticides on insect nervous system instead of primary neurons or in vivo studies

A modular multi electrode array system for electrogenic cell characterisation and cardiotoxicity applications

Multi electrode array (MEA) systems have evolved from custom-made experimental tools, exploited for neural research, into commercially available systems that are used throughout non-invasive electrophysiological study. MEA systems are used in conjunction with cells and tissues from a number of differing organisms (e.g. mice, monkeys, chickens, plants). The development of MEA systems has been incremental over the past 30 years due to constantly changing specific bioscientific requirements in research. As the application of MEA systems continues to diversify contemporary commercial systems are requiring increased levels of sophistication and greater throughput capabilities. [Continues.

Fluorescent labeling of human embryonic stem cell -derived neurons and characterization of their network connection development

Cell transplantation therapy is an alternative treatment for defects in tissues with poor regeneration and lack of efficient treatments. One of such tissues is the central nervous system tissue. However, cell transplantation therapies of the central nervous system are known to suffer from the poor survival and inability of the transplanted cells to integrate as a functional part of the target tissue. The integration of transplanted cells into the central nervous system has been observed to resemble the integration of newborn into the developing brain of the fetus. This developmental period is characterized by spontaneous neural network activity. Similar network activity has been observed to form in embryonic stem cell derived neural networks. The aim of this study was to optimize fluorescence labeling methods to allow the visualization of combined human embryonic stem cell derived neural cell populations and to study the formation of the earliest network connections. Neural cells were derived from human embryonic stem cells and labeled with fluorescent dyes (CT, SR101) using different concentrations and incubation times. Retainment, effect on cell viability and proliferation, cell type specificity and suitability for co-culturing were studied with imaging, fluorescent staining, immunocytochemistry and microelectrode arrays. The formation of the earliest network connections was studied pharmacologically by measuring the change in activity with either microelectrode arrays or calcium imaging. The optimal parameters for CT were 72 hour incubation in 10μM dye concentration and for SR101 8 hour incubation in 10μM dye concentration. CT was able to label cells up to a 4 week observation period, did not affect cell proliferation or viability and labeled all the cell types. CT was found to be suitable for co-culturing studies. SR101 seemed to label astrocytes dependent on cell line and maturation stage. The early network activity was found to be mediated by gap junctions, glutamatergic and GABAergic connections, thus resembling the connectivity observed to occur during development. Asiasanat:human embryonic stem cell derived neural networks, fluorescent dyes, microelectrode array, calcium imagin