Veteran Affairs Ann Arbor Healthcare System 2 articles published in JoVE Bioengineering Focused Ion Beam Lithography to Etch Nano-architectures into Microelectrodes Shreya Mahajan1, Jonah A. Sharkins2,4, Allen H. Hunter5, Amir Avishai6, Evon S. Ereifej2,3,4 1Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, University of Michigan, 2Veteran Affairs Ann Arbor Healthcare System, 3Department of Neurology, School of Medicine, University of Michigan, 4Department of Biomedical Engineering, University of Michigan, 5Michigan Center for Materials Characterization, University of Michigan, 6Carl Zeiss SMT, Inc. We have shown that the etching of nano-architecture into intracortical microelectrode devices may reduce the inflammatory response and has the potential to improve electrophysiological recordings. The methods described herein outline an approach to etch nano-architectures into the surface of non-functional and functional single shank silicon intracortical microelectrodes. Bioengineering A Human 3D Extracellular Matrix-Adipocyte Culture Model for Studying Matrix-Cell Metabolic Crosstalk Carmen G. Flesher1, Nicki A. Baker1, Clarissa Strieder-Barboza1,2, Dominic Polsinelli5, Phillip J. Webster1,2, Oliver A. Varban1, Carey N. Lumeng2,3,4, Robert W. O'Rourke1,6 1Department of Surgery, University of Michigan Medical School, 2Department of Pediatrics and Communicable Diseases, University of Michigan Medical School, 3Graduate Program in Immunology, University of Michigan Medical School, 4Graduate Program in Cellular and Molecular Biology, University of Michigan Medical School, 5Undergraduate Research Opportunity Program, University of Michigan, 6Department of Surgery, Ann Arbor Veterans Affairs Healthcare System We describe a 3D human extracellular matrix-adipocyte in vitro culture system that permits dissection of the roles of the matrix and adipocytes in contributing to adipose tissue metabolic phenotype.