Capturing electrical activity in cortical assembloids

兴奋细胞对生命至关重要，不仅控制大脑中的神经元传输，还控制心跳和胰岛素分泌。尽管如此重要，细胞兴奋性的研究，特别是神经元，由于需要获得繁琐的复杂工具，需要数月的培训，并且昂贵，因此受到限制。多电极阵列（MEA）是一种解决方案。MEA使用多孔板（6、24、48、96孔），每个孔中嵌入紧密间隔的电极网格，能够记录整个细胞群的电活动。这种方法是高通量的，相对便宜的，并且易于使用。在这里，我们申请资金购买Maestro Pro MEA，该MEA将能够真实的实时快速、简单地测量网络中的神经元电活动。我们是一个由四名PI（两名女性/两名男性;两名早期/一名中期/一名高级职业）组成的团队，使用人脑类器官作为研究基本神经发育过程的工具。我们的团队共同需要捕获人脑类器官中的电神经元特征。获得Maestro Pro MEA对我们每个NSERC资助的项目都至关重要，卡尔加里大学校园内任何地方都没有这样的设备。此外，鉴于其易用性，该MEA将被放置在阿尔伯塔儿童医院研究所（ACHRI）的类器官核心，使其广泛提供给数百名HQP，从博士后研究员到本科生。

Excitable cells are essential for life, controlling not only neuronal transmission in the brain but also heart beats and insulin secretion. Despite this importance, the study of cell excitability, especially neuronal, is curbed due to the need to access sophisticated tools that are tedious, require months of training, and are expensive. Multielectrode arrays (MEAs) are a solution. MEAs use multi-well plates (6, 24, 48, 96well) with a grid of tightly spaced electrodes embedded in each well that enables the recording of electrical activity across a population of cells. This approach is high throughput, relatively inexpensive, and easy to use. Here, we request funding to purchase a Maestro Pro MEA that will enable rapid and uncomplicated measurement of neuronal electrical activity across networks, in real time. We are a team of four PIs (two female/two male; two early/one mid/one senior career) that use human brain organoids as a tool to study fundamental neural developmental processes. Our group shares the common need to capture electrical neuronal signatures in human brain organoids. Having access to Maestro Pro MEA is critical to each of our NSERC funded programs and there is no such equipment anywhere on the University of Calgary campus. Additionally, given its ease of use, this MEA will be placed in the Alberta Children's Hospital Research Institute (ACHRI) organoid core, making it widely available to hundreds of HQP, from postdoctoral fellows to undergraduates.