Figure 5.

Investigation of NSCs biology via microfluidics. A) Microfluidic platform for in vivo paracrine signaling mimicking for enhanced NSC differentiation. Top: Schematic illustration of Microfluidic array for NSCs and GDNF-MSCs coculturing. Bottom (left): qRTPCR experiments with upregulated expression of the TH marker in hNSCs. Bottom (right): Neurite formation level of GDNF-hMSCs in comparison with control groups (Reproduced from Ref. ¹⁰⁸. Copyright 2015 with permission from Elsevier). B) Schematic illustration of microdevice for interaction of cultured NSCs with bVas (Reprinted from Ref. ¹¹⁵. Copyright 2015 with permission from John Wiley & Sons). C and D) Neural stem/progenitor cells migration and differentiation in the collagen matrix. C) Fluorescent labeling (red) of MAP2 protein expression in appropriate collagen density (0.9 mg/ml). D) Neural stem/progenitor cells percentage with MAP2 expression within different collagen matrices (Reproduced from Ref. ¹²⁸. Copyright 2015 with permission from the Royal Society of Chemistry).