Developing a Neural Implant to Enable Controlled Alterations to Brain Architecture Nicholas J. Weir (N0389094) a Thesis Submitte
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Developing a Neural Implant to Enable Controlled Alterations to Brain Architecture Nicholas J. Weir (N0389094) A thesis submitted in partial fulfilment of the requirements of Nottingham Trent University for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy December 2019 1 Copyright Statement This work is the intellectual property of the author. You may copy up to 5% of this work for private study, or personal, non-commercial research. Any re-use of the information contained within this document should be fully referenced, quoting the author, title, university, degree level and pagination. Queries or requests for any other use, or if a more substantial copy is required, should be directed in the owner(s) of the Intellectual Property Rights. 2 Acknowledgements First, I would like to thank my Director of Studies, Chris Tinsley, for his support and encouragement throughout the course of the PhD. His kind words and ability to find the silver lining in any situation made the past few years that much easier. Thanks also to my supervisory team, Alan Hargreaves, Bob Stevens and Martin McGinnity for their advice and thoughts on experiments and data that helped shape the PhD. Whilst not on my supervisory team, I’m also grateful to Amanda Miles for her help with mass spectrometry and endless technical knowledge and to Rich Hulse for his advice and support throughout. Special thanks go to my colleagues. Notably, to Awais and Jordan for their ability to distract and take my mind out of the lab during stressful times and to Charlotte for being a role model of scientific rigour and discipline. To Fal, Giulia, Joe, Henry, Elisa and Dan, you all helped me find my feet when I started and helped me make it to the end. To Lydia, Chris, Eden and Max, the four of you made the day that much better by putting up with me venting about whatever issue seemed important on the day. My work would also not have been possible without the support of Sarah with her brutal honesty and patient teaching. Last but not least, I owe my thanks to my partner Nic, who has put up with late nights and weekend work for several years to get to this stage. I wouldn’t have tolerated me but Nic has been as supportive as anyone could wish for and understanding in difficult times, constantly pushing me to better myself. I owe you all my gratitude. 3 Abstract Neuroscientific research frequently utilises loss of function experiments to attribute function to a brain region. Gain of function experiments via cortical re-wiring would aid in validation of these studies and could allow the repair of damaged neural circuitry or the creation of novel neural structures. Research into neuronal re-wiring within the central nervous system demonstrates insufficient neurite extension upon implantation and highlights the need for similarity between exogenous and endogenous neurons. An aligned poly-L-lactic acid (PLLA) nanofibre scaffold was developed that induced the three dimensional aggregation of primary cortical neurons into a physiological structure of clustered soma and aligned, fasciculated neurites in a controlled way. Due to the self-assembling and physiological architecture of these 3D structures and subsequent detection of electrophysiological activities, these 3D structures were classified as “organoids”. Cerebral cortical organoids generated using the nanofibre based methodology were demonstrated to be more developmentally advanced than their two- dimensional counterparts and mechanisms were elucidated for the aggregation of the neurons and the development that occurred post-aggregation. Analysis of gene expression suggested that the organoids were also undergoing advanced developmental processes and proposed a mechanism by which this occurs. Optogenetic depolarisation of the implanted neurons and detection of downstream electrophysiological activity was selected as the means of confirming integration of exogenous neurons into endogenous circuitry post-implantation. Methods were optimised to facilitate efficient viral transfection of the optogenetic protein (Channelrhodopsin-2). Aligned PLLA nanofibres were found to significantly enhance transfection rates relative to the 2D control and the process by which this occurs was investigated. The work presented within suggests that aligned PLLA nanofibres may be used to generate a cerebral cortical organoid that is suited to implantation and cortical re-wiring and may have additional in vitro applications within diverse fields such as high throughput pharmacology, computational neuroscience and bioengineering. 4 Abbreviations AAV; adeno-associated virus AIDA; advanced image data analyser AMPA; α-amino-3-hydroxy-5-methyl-4-isoxazolepropionic acid ANN; artificial neural network ANNI; artificial neural network inference BSA; bovine serum albumin CAM; cell adhesion molecule Chr2; channelrhodopsin-2 CNS; central nervous system DAPI; 4',6-diamidino-2-phenylindole DCM; dichloromethane DIV; days in vitro DMEM; Dulbecco’s modified Eagle’s medium DMF; dimethylformamide DMSO; dimethyl sulfoxide ECM; extracellular matrix ES; electrospun 5 FBS; fetal bovine serum FGF; fibroblast growth factor fMRI; functional magnetic resonance imaging FOV; field of vision GABA; γ-aminobutyric acid HBSS; Hanks’ balanced salt solution HEB; Hibernate-EB HFIP; hexafluoroisopropanol LDH; lactate dehydrogenase LED; light emitting diode MEA; microelectrode array MOI; multiplicity of infection MRI; magnetic resonance imaging MS; mass spectrometry MTT; thiazolyl blue tetrazolium bromide NSC; neural stem cell ofMRI; optogenetic functional magnetic resonance imaging PAN; polyacrylonitrile PBS; phosphate buffered saline PCA; principal components analysis 6 PD; Parkinson’s disease PDLO; poly-DL-ornithine PFA; paraformaldehyde PLA; poly-lactic acid PLL; poly-L-lysine PLLA; poly-L-lactic acid PLO; poly-L-ornithine PNS; peripheral nervous system PVC; polyvinyl chloride ROI; region of interest Rq; roughness TENN; tissue engineered neural network UV; ultraviolet w/v; weight/volume w/w; weight/weight 7 Table of Contents Chapter 1: Literature Review ................................................................................................... 13 1.1 Introduction ........................................................................................................................ 13 1.2 Lesion studies ...................................................................................................................... 13 1.3.1 Limitations to lesion studies ............................................................................................ 14 1.3.2 Use of an implant to overcome these limitations ............................................................ 19 1.4 Additional uses for an implant capable of re-wiring the cortex ......................................... 21 1.4.1 Integration of physiological neural circuit components into the cerebral cortex as a therapy ...................................................................................................................................... 22 1.4.2 Integrating non-physiological components in to the cerebral cortex ............................. 24 1.4.3 Temporal dynamics of neural networks .......................................................................... 28 1.5 How can the cortex be re-wired: considerations and existing methodologies .................. 29 1.5.1 Cellular sub-populations .................................................................................................. 29 1.5.2 Tissue-wide organisation ................................................................................................. 31 1.5.3 Existing methods of re-wiring the cerebral cortex .......................................................... 34 1.5.3.1 Areal Identity ................................................................................................................. 34 1.5.3.2 Cell Survival ................................................................................................................... 35 1.5.3.3 Neurite Extension .......................................................................................................... 36 1.5.3.4 Integration into existing neural circuitry ...................................................................... 37 1.6 Biomaterials and nanofibres ............................................................................................... 37 1.7 Goals of the PhD project ..................................................................................................... 39 Chapter 2: Materials and methods .......................................................................................... 40 2.1 Methods common to all chapters ....................................................................................... 40 2.1.1 Isolation of E18 Sprague Dawley rat cortex ..................................................................... 40 2.1.2 Dissociation of primary cortical neurons ......................................................................... 40 2.1.3 Maintenance of primary cortical neurons ....................................................................... 40 2.1.4 Cryopreservation .............................................................................................................. 41 2.1.5 Thawing ............................................................................................................................ 41 2.1.6 Electrospinning of nanofibres .........................................................................................