Fig 6.

a) Incorporation of self-assembled membrane into laminated carrier insert. Young’s modulus of membrane is similar to brain tissue. b) After 3 days in culture on the SA membrane, separate membranes were stained for MAP2 (dendridic marker, scale bar = 40 μm) and processed for gene expression analysis. Gene expression of Neurodap1, NCAM1, TrkA, and c-fos, on the soft self-assembled substrate were closer to rat brain gene expression (dashed horizontal line) than those cultured on rigid substrates.