Miniaturized automated patch-clamp system combined with high-density microelectrode arrays for multi-scale functional mapping of neuronal networks

Informations projet

MAPSYNE

N° de convention de subvention: 798836

DOI

10.3030/798836

Projet clôturé

Date de signature de la CE 4 Avril 2018

Date de début 1 Decembre 2018

Date de fin 30 Novembre 2020

Financé au titre de

• EXCELLENT SCIENCE - Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions

Coût total

€ 187 419,60

Contribution de l’UE

€ 187 419,60

Coordonné par

MAXWELL BIOSYSTEMS AG
Switzerland

Periodic Reporting for period 1 - MAPSYNE (Miniaturized automated patch-clamp system combined with high-density microelectrode arrays for multi-scale functional mapping of neuronal networks)

Période du rapport: 2018-12-01 au 2020-11-30

Résumé du contexte et des objectifs généraux du projet

More than one billion people worldwide (165 million in Europe) suffer from diseases of the central nervous system (CNS). With Europe's aging societies, the European Commission identified brain research as one of the key research areas under healthcare.

Many neurodegenerative diseases are still without cure (e.g. Parkinson’s, amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) and Alzheimer’s) and repeated failures in clinical trials increase the demand for novel screening technologies to be implemented in the early phases of drug discovery.

Recent studies show that synaptic dysfunction is involved in CNS diseases.

New technologies for neuronal screening targeting synaptic and network activity, combined with disease model cells in vitro, will enable novel functional assays for CNS drug discovery.

MAPSYNE project objective is to develop a miniaturized automated patch-clamp system combined with high-density microelectrode arrays (HD-MEAs) for multi-scale functional mapping of neuronal networks.

Travail effectué depuis le début du projet jusqu’à la fin de la période considérée dans le rapport et principaux résultats atteints jusqu’à présent

The main result achieved is the development of MAPSYNE, a miniaturized and automated system combining a high-density microelectrode array (HD-MEA) and a movable micropipette for studying, monitoring, and perturbing neurons in vitro.

The system involves an all-electrical approach to automatically move a glass micropipette towards a target location on the HD-MEA surface, without the need for a microscope.

Two methods of performing blind navigation are employed, (i) stop-measure-go approach where in the pipette moves for a predefined distance before measuring its location then the process is repeated until the pipette reaches its destination, and (ii) predictive approach wherein the pipette is continuously tracked and moved. This automated system can be applied for unsupervised single-cell manipulation of neurons in a network, such as electroporation and local delivery of compounds

Progrès au-delà de l’état des connaissances et impact potentiel prévu (y compris l’impact socio-économique et les conséquences sociétales plus larges du projet jusqu’à présent)

Thanks to automation, multiple neurons in a cell culture can be reached by a pipette in a short amount of time. This system can be applied for unsupervised local delivery of compounds to single-cells. With the current speed of the system, it is possible to automatically target 100 cells for local-puffing of compounds in less than 50 minutes.

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