Delopment of a novel co-culture device of neuronal cells for construction of in vitro Alzheimer´s disease model

A novel co-culture device of neuronal cells was developed for analysis of cell interaction between a normal cell and an Alzheimer´s disease infected cell. The device consisted of co-culture chamber system and a microelectrode arrays(MEA). The chamber system has a central chamber and three peripheral compartment chambers, connected by micro-channels. Rat hippocampal neurons were cultured separately in each of the peripheral compartment chamber. Neurites of the hippocampal neurons grow through the micro-channels to reach the central chamber and make connection. Formation of synaptic junction of the neuritis was confirmed by the imuunohistochemical staining. Electrical activities generated by hippocampal neurons network were recorded by the MEA, placed on the bottom of the three compartments. The results demonstrated the capability of this device for the analysis of pathogenic mechanism of Alzheimer´s disease.