(NB: Don't steal my pictures! Ask first please :) ) What you're seeing are two different types of protein (one connected to a molecule that fluoresces green, and one connected to a molecule which fluoresces red) printed in two different microscale patterns (the same size as cells) on the same glass substrate.This is pretty cool, because it might eventually allow us to grow and differentiate neuronal cells in specific, predetermined patterns (given, of course, the right patterns and the right proteins).
This time I didn't do such a good job with the double stamping, and the second stamp is shifted from the first. Supposedly the machine I'm using has micrometer precision, but I've yet to see it.This stamping works because neurons don't usually like to grow on the glass, and instead much prefer attatching to certain motifs in the protein pattern. This lets you grow cells in discernable patterns:
Here are some neurons growing on a basic grid pattern we did as a test. The axons, which transmit the electrochemical signals, are fluorescing green; the dendrites, which receive these signals, are fluorescing red; and the cell bodies are blue. You can't see the pattern itself here because we didn't stain it with any marker, but you can figure out where it is, no?Reducing/defining the complexity of the network (it's only a tad bit more complicated in brains!! :P) lets you see which neuron is sending signals to which other neurons. This less complex system is useful if you are trying to understand how signals are propagated in neurons.
We're hoping that by creating slightly more sophisticated protein patterns we can better control the direction the neurons differentiate in - so they don't just grow randomly like you see here. Ideally all the axons would branch off from the cells in one direction, and all the dendrites in the other, but we're a ways away from that yet.Complicated? Sure, a little bit :P. But it's all been really interesting so far - I only wish it was slightly faster paced.
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