October 2015 - This Month in JoVE: tuberculosis infection modeling, telemetric temperature pills, bioengineered cartilage, and 3D neuronal networks

Protocol

Interfacing 3D Engineered Neuronal Cultures to Micro-Electrode Arrays: An Innovative In Vitro Experimental Model

Mariateresa Tedesco¹, Monica Frega^1,2, Sergio Martinoia¹, Mattia Pesce³, Paolo Massobrio¹

¹Department of Informatics, Bioengineering, Robotics and System Engineering (DIBRIS), University of Genova, ²Donders Institute for Brain, Cognition and Behaviour, Department of Cognitive Neuroscience, Radboud University Medical Center, ³Fondazione Istituto Italiano di Tecnologia (IIT)

In this work, a novel experimental model in which 3D neuronal cultures are coupled to planar Micro-Electrode Arrays (MEAs) is presented. 3D networks are built by seeding neurons in a scaffold made up of glass microbeads on which neurons grow and form interconnected 3D structures.

3D Hydrogel Scaffolds for Articular Chondrocyte Culture and Cartilage Generation

Piera Smeriglio*¹, Janice H. Lai*^1,2, Fan Yang^1,3, Nidhi Bhutani¹

¹Orthopaedic Surgery Department, Stanford University, ²Mechanical Engineering Department, Stanford University, ³Bioengineering Department, Stanford University

Cartilage repair represents an unmet medical challenge and cell-based approaches to engineer human articular cartilage are a promising solution. Here, we describe three-dimensional (3D) biomimetic hydrogels as an ideal tool for the expansion and maturation of human articular chondrocytes.

A 3D Human Lung Tissue Model for Functional Studies on Mycobacterium tuberculosis Infection

Clara Braian¹, Mattias Svensson², Susanna Brighenti², Maria Lerm¹, Venkata R. Parasa^1,2

¹Dept. of Clinical and Experimental Medicine, Linköping University, ²Dept. of Medicine, Karolinska Institute

Human tuberculosis infection is a complex process, which is difficult to model in vitro. Here we describe a novel 3D human lung tissue model that recapitulates the dynamics that occur during infection, including the migration of immune cells and early granuloma formation in a physiological environment.

Using an Ingestible Telemetric Temperature Pill to Assess Gastrointestinal Temperature during Exercise

Coen C.W.G. Bongers, Maria T.E. Hopman, Thijs M.H. Eijsvogels

Radboud Institute for Health Sciences, Department of Physiology, Radboud University Medical Center

This study describes an accurate, reliable and non-invasive technique to continuously measure gastrointestinal temperature during exercise. The ingestible telemetric temperature pill is suitable to measure gastrointestinal temperature in laboratory settings as well as in field based settings.