Innovative Brain Cell Culture by Using a Bicompartmental Device Suitable for Atomic Force Microscopy

Different brain cell cultures have been experimented over the years in order to develop a reliable in vitro model to study the brain morphology and the pathological pathways of many significant diseases whose progression is still unclear. The focus of this thesis is to study an innovative approach to culture brain cells by using a bicompartmental device which is compatible with most of the laboratory equipment, including the Atomic Force Microscope. Indeed, Atomic Force Microscopy has been proven to be crucial to investigate cellular mechanics, since diseased cells often modify their mechanical properties. The traditional commercially distributed bicompartmental cell culture devices do not allow to perform AFM analyses without damaging the biological sample, therefore it is extremely relevant to develop alternative brain-on-chip models which facilitate post-culture analyses pre serving the cell culture intact. This work focuses on the True Tissue on Plate (TToP) device, first by verifying its reliability for brain cell culture, by comparing it with traditional well plates, and then testing its suitability to perform atomic force microscopy. The results implicates that the TToP could represent an effective in vitro model for brain cells, and confirm the possibility to perform Atomic Force Microscopy on cells growing on a porous membrane by using a simple support piece which doesn’t damage the biological sample.