How does a nerve cell find its way to the end of an elephant's trunk? US researchers could soon have the answer.Andre Levchenko and co-workers at Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, have created a grooved microfluidic chip that allows them to follow nerve cell growth in response to chemical signals. This directed growth is a key process in brain and nervous system regeneration and development.Nerve cells can span over a metre. During development or following injury, nerve cell axons have to navigate to a specific target as they grow. The growth is directed by the growing tip of the axon - the growth cone - and is guided by a variety of chemical and physical signposts, or cues. Replicating this complex environment in laboratory experiments has proved very challenging, especially as nerve cell growth is sensitive to shear forces in flowing liquids.
展开▼
