Mitochondria, synaptic vesicles, and other cytoplasmic
constituents
have to travel long distance along the axons from cell bodies to nerve
terminals. Interruption of this axonal transport may contribute to
many neurodegenerative diseases including Alzheimer’s disease
(AD). It has been recently shown that exposure of cultured neurons
to β-amyloid (Aβ) resulted in severe impairment of mitochondrial
transport. This Letter describes an integrated microfluidic platform
that establishes surface patterned and compartmentalized culture of
neurons for studying the effect of Aβ on mitochondria trafficking
in full length of axons. We have successfully quantified the trafficking
of fluorescently labeled mitochondria in distal and proximal axons
using image processing. Selective treatment of Aβ in the somal
or axonal compartments resulted in considerable decrease in mitochondria
movement in a location dependent manner such that mitochondria trafficking
slowed down more significantly proximal to the location of Aβ
exposure. Furthermore, this result suggests a promising application
of microfluidic technology for investigating the dysfunction of axonal
transport related to neurodegenerative diseases.