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

Informazioni relative al progetto

MAPSYNE

ID dell’accordo di sovvenzione: 798836

DOI

10.3030/798836

Progetto chiuso

Data della firma CE 4 Aprile 2018

Data di avvio 1 Dicembre 2018

Data di completamento 30 Novembre 2020

Finanziato da

• EXCELLENT SCIENCE - Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions

Costo totale

€ 187 419,60

Contributo UE

€ 187 419,60

Coordinato da

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)

Periodo di rendicontazione: 2018-12-01 al 2020-11-30

Sintesi del contesto e degli obiettivi generali del progetto

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.

Lavoro eseguito dall’inizio del progetto fino alla fine del periodo coperto dalla relazione e principali risultati finora ottenuti

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

Progressi oltre lo stato dell’arte e potenziale impatto previsto (incluso l’impatto socioeconomico e le implicazioni sociali più ampie del progetto fino ad ora)

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.

mapsyne.png