News
Angular Velocity-Induced Cell Injury and Astrogliosis in 3D Cortical Neurospheroids
Biomedical Engineering Society Conference October 2021
Rafael presented his virtual research poster, titled Angular Velocity-Induced Cell Injury and Astrogliosis in 3D Cortical Neurospheroids, at the 2021 Biomedical Engineering Society Conference on October 6-9, 2021. Part of his last work as a PhD student was also presented as a virtual research poster, titled Discovery of Surface Biomarker for Cell Mechanophenotype via Intracellular Protein Enrichment Method, at the same conference by Prof. Eric Darling.
Aurora Washington awarded the Carney Graduate Award in Brain Science
Brown University September 2021
Studying Angular Velocity-Induced Brain Injury in Three-Dimensional Cortical Spheroids
Virtual World Congresses on Brain Injury July 2021
Rafael presented his virtual research talk, titled Studying Angular Velocity-Induced Brain Injury in Three-Dimensional Cortical Spheroids, to the 2021 Virtual World Congresses on Brain Injury on July 29-30, 2021.
Rodent Cortical Microtissues for Toxicity Testing via Integrated Imaging, Molecular and Functional Analyses: Domoic Acid
Vanderbilt Integrated Training Alliance Symposium April 2021
Aurora Washington presented her poster entitled “Rodent Cortical Microtissues for Toxicity Testing via Integrated Imaging, Molecular and Functional Analyses: Domoic Acid” at the Vanderbilt Integrated Training Alliance Symposium in April of 2021.
Capillary-like Network Disruption after Oxygen-Glucose Deprivation in a 3D Cortical Spheroid Model
Blood-Brain Barrier Consortium Meeting March 2021
Rachel McLaughlin presented her poster entitled “Capillary-like Network Disruption after Oxygen-Glucose Deprivation in a 3D Cortical Spheroid Model” at the virtual 26th Annual Blood-Brain Barrier Consortium Meeting in March of 2021.
Investigating the Effects of the Toxicant Domoic Acid in Human Neural Microtissues
New England Science Symposium, Harvard University July 2020
Aurora Washington presented her poster entitled “Investigating the Effects of the Toxicant Domoic Acid in Human Neural Microtissues” at the virtual New England Science Symposium in July of 2020
Rachel McLaughlin Awarded the Sidney E. Frank Fellowship
Rachel McLaughlin was awarded the Sidney E. Frank Fellowship, which was made possible by the 2006 endowment gift from the Sidney Frank Foundation to support meritorious pre-doctoral training within the Division of Biology and Medicine.
Rachel presented a poster entitled “Exploring the effects of oxygen-glucose deprivation in a 3D cortical microtissue model” at Neuroscience 2019, taking place in Chicago, IL, October 19-23.
Local Network Activity Develops in Primary Rodent Cortical Microtissues
Scientific American Pain diagnosis article:
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Lab member Jess Sevetson recently published a paper on three-dimensional neural cultures and their increasing utility in providing a way to advance our understanding of the brain from an in vitro platform. As these cultures become more sophisticated, it is critical to probe their intrinsic network activity. Our lab’s primary rodent spheroidal microtissues have an in-vivo relevant diversity of cells – including astrocytes, microglia, endothelial cells, and active neurons – at physiological cell density and tissue stiffness. These traits, with comparatively high reproducibility and throughput, make them ideal for observing network development. Here, we found that microtissues develop neural oscillations within weeks. Using calcium indicator Oregon Green 488 BAPTA-1 AM, we observed synaptically driven neural oscillations and inter-cellular synchrony. Network activity was influenced by number of cells per microtissue (2,000-8,000) and by time in culture (7-14d), but not by biological sex. These results show the potential of in vitro models to study complex, network-based neural phenomena.
Development of a 3D Human Brain Microtissue Model for Disease, Drug and Toxicity Testing
Biomedical Engineering Society Conference Atlanta, GA Oct 17-20, 2018
Aurora Washington attended the Biomedical Engineering Society Conference where she presented her poster titled, “Development of a 3D Human Brain Microtissue Model for Disease, Drug and Toxicity Testing.” There is a high demand for in vitro models of the central nervous system (CNS) to study neurological disorders, injuries, toxicity, and drug efficacy. We have developed and characterized a 3D rodent cortical microtissue model that has in vivo-like like cell types, electrical activity, tissue stiffness, cell density, and capillary-like networks. (Dingle 2015, Boutin 2017) However, since animal models of the CNS can fall short at predicting human response, due to species differences in gene expression, protein expression, and cellular responses, our goal is to transition from a 3D postnatal rodent cortical microtissue model to a 3D human brain microtissue model. (Schmidt 2017, Shanks 2009) Here, 3D human brain microtissues were generated using multiple cell combinations, seeding densities, and times in culture. Microtissue characteristics evaluated included: size, shape, and expression and localization of cell specific markers.
Investigating the Effects of Toxicant in 3D Human Neural Microtissue: Domoic Acid
Biomedical Engineering Society Conference Philadelphia, PA Oct 16-19, 2019
“Conclusion: Using our simple neural microtissue we were able to observe morphological and functional response to domoic acid toxicity. The 10uM and/or 2uM exposures of domoic acid influenced the viability, morphology, and neural activity of the microtissues. Ongoing experiments include further analysis of immunohistochemistry and quantification of qualitative outputs. This 3D human brain microtissue is providing a potentially more predictive platform to study chemical toxicity.”