Investigation of the Subcellular Neurotoxicity of Amyloid‐β Using a Device Integrating Microfluidic Perfusion and Chemotactic Guidance. Issue 7 (25th January 2017)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Li, Wei; Xu, Zhen; Xu, Bingzhe; Chan, Chung Yuen; Lin, Xudong; Wang, Ying; Chen, Ganchao; Wang, Zhigang; Yuan, Qiuju; Zhu, Guangyu; Sun, Hongyan; Wu, Wutian; Shi, Peng
• Is Part Of: Advanced healthcare materials. Volume 6:Issue 7(2017)
• Page Start: n/a
• Page End: n/a
• Publication Date: 2017-01-25
• Subjects: Alzheimer's disease -- amyloid‐beta -- microfluidic device -- neural guidance -- subcellular toxicity; Biomedical materials -- Periodicals; 610.28
• DOI: 10.1002/adhm.201600895
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 2192-2640

Abstract

Abstract : Alzheimer's disease (AD) is a neurodegenerative disorder with the histopathological hallmark of extracellular accumulation of amyloid‐β (Aβ) peptide in brain senile plaques. Though many studies have shown the neural toxicity from various forms of Aβ peptides, the subcellular mechanisms of Aβ peptide are still not well understood, partially due to the technical challenges of isolating axons or dendrites from the cell body for localized investigation. In this study, the subcellular toxicity and localization of Aβ peptides are investigated by utilizing a microfluidic compartmentalized device, which combines physical restriction and chemotactic guidance to enable the isolation of axons and dendrites for localized pharmacological studies. It is found that Aβ peptides induced neuronal death is mostly resulted from Aβ treatment at cell body or axonal processes, but not at dendritic neurites. Simply applying Aβ to axons alone induces significant hyperactive spiking activity. Dynamic transport of Aβ aggregates is only observed between axon terminal and cell body. In addition to differential cellular uptake, more Aβ‐peptide secretion is detected significantly from axons than from dendritic side. These results clearly demonstrate the existence of a localized mechanism in Aβ‐induced neurotoxicity, and can potentially benefit the development of new therapeutic strategies for AD. Abstract : By a combination of physical restriction and chemotactic guidance in a multicompartment microfluidic device, localized chemical treatment is performed to isolated axons or dendrites and the subcellular toxicity of amyloid‐β peptides is investigated. This study demonstrates a localized intake or secretion of amyloid‐β at axonal terminals, instead of dendrites that cause neuronal degeneration.