Stimulation of Patterned Neuronal Cultures by a Magnetic Field

In This Article

Abstract

Source: Stern, S., et al., External Excitation of Neurons Using Electric and Magnetic Fields in One- and Two-dimensional Cultures. J. Vis. Exp. (2017)

This video demonstrates a method for stimulating neuronal cultures grown in a patterned circular ring on a coverslip, using a time-varying magnetic field.

Protocol

1. Preparation of coverslips for 1D cultures.

Clean glass coverslips by immersion in a base piranha solution consisting of 75 mL DDW, 25 mL 25% ammonia solution, and 25 mL 30% hydrogen peroxide. Place the solution with the glass coverslips on a heating plate at ~ 50°C for 30 min, and then dry the glass coverslips with nitrogen.
First, coverslips are coated with a thin chrome film (99.999%) of 6 Å thickness, followed by a 30 Å layer of gold (99.999%), using either vapor or sputter deposition.
1. To achieve a sputtering rate of 0.05 – 1 Å /s, use a sputtering machine with 2 e-beams and a vacuum sy....

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Results

Magnetic stimulation setup diagram with waveform; microscopy images of material structure and texture.
Figure 1: Schematic of the Setup Used for Magnetic Stimulation of Neuronal Cultures. A. At the top is shown the magnetic coil (blue circles), which is located 5 mm concentrically above the neuronal ring culture, placed in a Petri dish (blue outline). .......