Development of Novel Microfluidic Platform for Multiple Sclerosis Study
Abstract
From petri dish to complex micro-devices, technological advances in microfluidic devices allowed us to study various disease cases in greater depth. Multiple Sclerosis (MS) is an autoimmune disease which occurs in the brain. The inflammation during MS is also known to occur at the wall of the tissue where Neural Progenitor Cells reside (NPC). These NPCs are recognized for their regenerative property; they can replace old or damaged neurons with newly formed neurons. Thus, in MS patients, it is difficult to maintain neurogenesis for restorative therapy as it is constantly inhibited due to the inflammation. Pathological studies reveal that the two microenvironments surrounding the inflammation site are different. This calls for a novel microfluidic device that mimics distinct microenvironments of the disease condition. Hence, we have developed a three-compartment system microfluidic system that can be used to study such disease. Using this device, the cellular and molecular signaling mechanism under MS in the NPCs may be elucidated for the first time.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Aug 01, 2013
- Accession Number
- ADA584505
Entities
People
- In H. Yang
Organizations
- Johns Hopkins University