Quantitative Analysis of Axonal Transport by Using Compartmentalized and Surface Micropatterned Culture of Neurons
Skip to main content
eScholarship
Open Access Publications from the University of California

UC Irvine

UC Irvine Previously Published Works bannerUC Irvine

Quantitative Analysis of Axonal Transport by Using Compartmentalized and Surface Micropatterned Culture of Neurons

Abstract

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.

Many UC-authored scholarly publications are freely available on this site because of the UC's open access policies. Let us know how this access is important for you.

Main Content
For improved accessibility of PDF content, download the file to your device.
Current View