期刊名称：Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences
印刷版ISSN：0027-8424
电子版ISSN：1091-6490
出版年度：2014
卷号：111
期号：38
页码：13811-13816
DOI：10.1073/pnas.1324214111
语种：English
出版社：The National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America
摘要：SignificanceA modular 3D brain-like cortical tissue is constructed with silk protein-based scaffold and ECM composite and primary cortical neurons. This tissue responds in vitro with biochemical and electrophysiological outcomes, mimicking observations of brain homeostasis and mechanical injury responses. The brain remains one of the most important but least understood tissues in our body, in part because of its complexity as well as the limitations associated with in vivo studies. Although simpler tissues have yielded to the emerging tools for in vitro 3D tissue cultures, functional brain-like tissues have not. We report the construction of complex functional 3D brain-like cortical tissue, maintained for months in vitro, formed from primary cortical neurons in modular 3D compartmentalized architectures with electrophysiological function. We show that, on injury, this brain-like tissue responds in vitro with biochemical and electrophysiological outcomes that mimic observations in vivo. This modular 3D brain-like tissue is capable of real-time nondestructive assessments, offering previously unidentified directions for studies of brain homeostasis and injury.
