Resources
Authors & Affiliations
Timm Schlegel, Johny Pires, Austin Passaro, Ben Streeter, Denise Sullivan, Parker Ellingson, Stacie Chvatal, Daniel Millard
Abstract
The flexibility and accessibility of induced pluripotent stem cell (iPSC) technology has allowed complex human biology to be reproduced in vitro at high throughput scales. Indeed, rapid advances in stem cell technology have led to widespread adoption for the development of in vitro models of neuron electrophysiology to be used in screening applications in drug discovery and safety. Furthermore, advanced cell preparations, such as spheroids or organoids, are under intense investigation with aims toward establishing mature physiologically relevant phenotypes in vitro. The objective of this work is to develop and validate a live-cell analysis workflow for the characterization of neural organoids in vitro. First, whole-vessel live-cell imaging was used to monitor iPSC colony formation and expansion in real-time. iPSCs were consistently passaged according to readouts of colony size and coverage. Imaging was then used to track the size and shape of embryoid body formation and differentiation. At day 50+, organoids were transferred to a multiwell microelectrode array plate customized for the functional analysis of neural organoids. The multiwell plate utilized a funnel design to target the neural organoids to a planar grid of microelectrodes embedded in the substrate of each well of the culture plate. Impedance measurements were used to quantify the attachment of the organoids to the substrate and microelectrodes, while functional activity was quantified via the electrophysiological measurements. Acute (no attachment) and chronic (surface coating mediated attachment) recording protocols were evaluated and compared. These results support the continued development of in vitro 3D models of neural function.