Example 1: Measuring ’regional‘ drug effects from different CNS synapses
A. Schematic showing multiple stimulating and recording sites along the hippocampal tri-synaptic loop.
B. The effects of an AMPA modulator (250 µM) on test and paired-pulse responses (mono-synaptic fEPSPs) from different circuits in the rat
hippocampus. The representative traces in black are taken before, and those in purple are taken after application of the drug.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Example 2:
Evaluation of Chronic Drug Effects on Cultured Rat Hippocampal Slices
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Example 3: Drug Effects on Co-Cultured Slices of
Septum and Hippocampus
A. Septal slices (bottom part, from 5 day-old
rats) were co-cultured with hippocampal
slices (upper part, from 9 day-old rats)
on the MED probe for 19 days (450 µm
inter-electrode spacing).
B. Spontaneous unit activity measured at the electrodes marked
in red. Physostigmine 1 µM, a cholinesterase inhibitor,
increased unit activity in both CA1 and CA3. Atropine 1 µM,
a muscarinic receptor antagonist, blocked activity.
C. Quantification of the effects of Physostigmine and atropine.
(means + SEM n=2). This result indicates that spontaneous
activity in septo-hippocampal co-cultures is influenced by
cholinergic drugs.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Example 4: Effects of Capsaicin on DRG neuron firing
A. Rat dorsal root ganglion (DRG) neurons cultured directly on MED probe. (150 m m spacing inter-polar distance; 3 days in culture)
B. Spontaneous unit activity obtained from dissociated cultured DRG neurons. Activity is evoked and obtained for a few seconds in the presence of 1 µM Capsaicin.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Example 5:
Evaluation of Drug Effects on Cultured Myocyte
Panel A
illustrates spontaneous activity recorded from myocytes cultured on the MED probe in normal media. Panel B illustrates the magnified view of a single compound Action Potential (AP) recorded in normal media. Panel C demonstrates that 10 m M adriamycin dramatically increases the frequency of spontaneous activity. Panels D & E illustrate that the duration of the action potential (APD) is significantly prolonged by adriamycin.
