Figure 4. iNs supported by scaffolds support outgrowth and survival ex vivo.

(a) Hundred-micrometre edge scaffolds were cut from electrospun fibres before seeding with iNs, followed by injection onto ex vivo cultured mouse pup brain slices. (b–e) Neurite length was found to be significantly enhanced in transplanted scaffold-supported iNs when comparing dissociated GFP-labelled iNs (b) with iNs seeded on scaffolds (c) injected onto mouse ex vivo brain slices (n=8 brain slices for each transplantation mode). (f–h) Both scaffold-supported iNs (n=6) and dissociated iNs (n=5) fire action potentials in response to current injection 14 days after transplantation onto mouse ex vivo brain slices, however, scaffold-supported iNs displayed enhanced excitability relative to dissociated iNs. Both modes of transplanted iNs were observed to have mature sodium channel expression (i). ***P<0.0001 by one-way ANOVA. Scale bar, 20 μm. All error bars presented as mean±1 s.d.