Investigation of brain-on-a-chip devices for functional testing of novel drug compounds

迫切需要研究神经疾病及其治疗，然而，我们缺乏对复杂脑回路的理解，限制了对未来医疗保健策略的建模和评估。使用定制的微加工设备，我们将研究用于测试新型药物化合物的大脑芯片设备。器官芯片技术将用于精确设计复杂的活体神经回路，以模拟功能组织网络。多种细胞成分将在培养中进行操作，以定义一个人工活的神经细胞回路，模拟那些涉及健康和患病脑组织的神经细胞回路。这些设备将用于筛选内部合成的新型药物化合物，展示脑芯片设备在未来临床前筛选以推进治疗策略的实用性。

There is an urgent need for research into neuro-diseases and their treatments, however our lack of understanding of complex brain circuitry restricts modelling and evaluation for future healthcare strategies. Using bespoke microfabricated devices we will investigate brain-on-a-chip devices for testing of novel drug compounds.Organ-on-a-chip technologies will be used to precisely engineer complex living neural circuits to model a functioning tissue network. Multiple cellular components will be manipulated in culture to define an artificial living neuronal cell circuit mimicking those involved in healthy and diseased brain tissue. These devices will be used for the screening of novel drug compounds synthesised in-house, demonstrating utility of brain-on-chip devices for future pre-clinical screening to advance therapeutic strategies.