Development of an in vitro perfusable neural interface model for sequential connection of nerve cells

Neural interface models based on microfluidic chips are widely used in the regeneration of neural interfaces in vitro for their low cost, simple structure and accurate simulation of complex interactions between cells and the extracellular environment. However, due to the lack of influence of the dynamic flow environment, it is difficult to realize the reduction of cell culture and the cell growth environment for a long time while forming sequential connections between cells. Here,we propose an in vitro perfusable culture chip as a neural interface for neuroblastoma cells (SH-SY5Y cells) to realize sequential cell connection under dynamic perfusion and physical guidance. A microfluidic chip with physical guidance was fabricated based on soft lithography. The microfluidic chip can realize long-term cell culture under dynamic perfusion conditions by an automatic perfusion system in vitro. The interior of the microfluidic chip is optimized to provide physical cues for SH-SY5Y cells to construct nerve conduction microunits. The microfluidic chip has great potential in the research of in vitro neural interface regeneration models in dynamic complex environments.