Sadly nowadays, you don’t have to talk to too many people to find someone with a grandparent or older friend that has suffered and/or died from a type of dementia, such as Alzheimer’s disease (AD) or Parkinson’s disease (PD). In my case, I became aware of neurodegenerative disease via close relatives, working as part of the NHS with the elderly.
Disease diagnoses for brain related disorders are increasing due to the ageing population. But what are some of the ways by which scientists are dealing with this? The use of Graphene Brain-on-a-Chip Platforms for the Multiparametric Study of Neurodegenerative Disease, I hear you say? Great answer! How did you know? Currently there are limited clinical options for Alzheimer’s diseases (AD), and so the development of new techniques, for understanding early progression (of the disease), such as the aforementioned, are becoming critical.
Graphene micro-electrode arrays (MEAs) are devices capable of enabling electrophysiological and optical analysis of brain organoid (small bits of brain), at the same time. Because graphene is a very transparent material with high electrical conductivity, electrical impulses can be sent through the MEAs, to neuronal cell cultures, for simultaneous read-out and visualisation. The result? A greater understanding of electrical and optical changes within neuronal cell cultures in real time. Measurements can, in turn, be taken at different stages of brain ageing, to understand neuron degression in greater detail, as the disease progresses.
My midi project initially focuses on making graphene MEAs, via a process called microfabrication (using a variety of different specialised techniquies such as laser writing lithography and graphene etching). Once the devices are made, my PhD project then seeks to interpret the electrical read-out signals from the device, and evaluate neuron culture state by calcium imaging/fluorescence microscopy. The neuronal cultures are fluorescently tagged, which enables their visualisation.
More detail, I hear you ask? As electrical impulses are sent through the devices, calcium levels increase for the cells in the way of an action potential (spike in electrical signal). With this stated, however, it is the accompanying lower frequency data for the cell cultures, which may hold potential markers of neurodegeneration.
By utilising the graphene based MEA technique, it is hoped that a greater understanding of the mechanisms behind neurogeneration can be obtained.
It’s time to do something about these slowly progressive neurological diseases, before the Alzheimer timer runs out!
NanoDTC PhD Student, c2022