Encyclopedia of Experiments: Neuroscience
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Transcript
Place a multi-electrode array, or MEA, in a petri dish under a stereomicroscope. The MEA comprises electrodes arranged in a grid with two separate zones.
Add a drop of blood plasma to the MEA. Place two spinal cord slices obtained from rat embryos, with their ventral sides facing each other.
Introduce a thrombin solution, mix it with the plasma, and incubate. Thrombin causes plasma coagulation, creating a biological scaffold that facilitates the adhesion of the slices on the MEA.
Add a nutrient medium and incubate under agitation, promoting the formation of cellular connections between the slices and causing their fusion.
Under the stereomicroscope, introduce a lesion by cutting the tissue connections between the slices. Add a nutrient medium and incubate.
During incubation, neurons grow across the lesion to connect the slices.
Using a recording chamber, record electrical activity from both spinal cord slices to assess their regenerated functional connections.
