Figure 8. The Bioactive3D culture system supports the complex cell morphology of astrocytes and comes as a novel tool to study and modulate astrocyte activation in situations such as nerodegeneration, ischemia or neurotrauma.

Upper panel. Astrocytes are highly complex cells with a multitude of cellular processes as demonstrated on this 3D reconstruction of adjacent astrocytes in the adult mouse hippocampus. Astrocytes were filled with either Alexa 568 or Lucifer yellow dyes. The gray matter is largely subdivided into individual astrocyte domains. Astrocytes are interconnected via gap junctions into a highly dynamic network, however in the healthy adult brain, astrocytes do enter domains of their astrocyte neighbors. Hence the limited overlap zone between adjacent astrocytes reflecting the interdigitation of fine cellular processes of adjacent astrocytes (shown in yellow). Reproduced from (Wilhelmsson, Bushong et al. 2006). Lower panel. Primary astrocytes cultured in the Bioactive3D system, which is composed of polyurethane nanofibers coated with poly-L-ornithin and laminin (Puschmann, Zanden et al. 2013), preserve some of the complex morphological and biochemical features of in vivo astrocytes that are normally lost upon 2D culture (compare the left and right panel). Space bar, 10 μm. The primary astrocytes were derived from mice expressing enhanced green fluorescein protein in their astrocytes (Nolte, Matyash et al. 2001).