In this thesis technologies are developed to make integrated devices to study neural
activity in vitro: microelectrode arrays (MEAs), microfluidic modules and human neural
stem cells (hNSCs). My aim was to develop novel in vitro models for neurodegenerative
diseases such as multiple sclerosis (MS). As MS is a chronic neuroinflammatory disease
that results in loss of myelin it evokes changes in neuronal conduction velocity in the
central nervous system (CNS). Therefore, developing a system that could electrically
follow the progress of myelination through immunocytochemistry and via conduction
velocity would be of great value in MS research. As a step towards this goal, I developed
and fabricated functional custom MEAs on which the electrical activity of human
dopaminergic neurons (differentiated from hNSCs) and mouse spinal cord cells was
recorded. Microfluidic microchannels measuring 5 μm wide were successful in separating
the cell bodies of human cerebral cortical neurons (hCCNs) from the axons in two
different compartments. Mouse spinal cord cultures were electrically active from 2 days
in vitro (DIV) and remained active up until 52 DIV. Nominal conduction velocity (NCV)
measurements were recorded from these cultures on commercial MEAs from 6 to 24 DIV.
NCV increased from 0.03 m/s at 2 DIV to 15.00 m/s at 24 DIV indicating increasing
myelination. Combining this data with molecular methodologies promises new
approaches in developing more human-relevant models for MS research and will provide
a deeper understanding of the process of myelination and possible new treatments that
may one day cure MS
