title: A rapid and reproducible assay for modeling myelination by oligodendrocytes using engineered nanofibers.
abstract: Current methods for studying oligodendrocyte myelination using primary neurons are limited by the time, cost and reproducibility of myelination in vitro. Nanofibers with diameters of >0.4 μm fabricated from electrospinning of liquid polystyrene are suitable scaffolds for concentric membrane wrapping by oligodendrocytes. With the advent of aligned electrospinning technology, nanofibers can be rapidly fabricated, standardized, and configured into various densities and patterns as desired. Notably, the minimally permissive culture environment of fibers provides investigators with an opportunity to explore the autonomous oligodendrocyte cellular processes underlying differentiation and myelination. The simplicity of the system is conducive to monitoring oligodendrocyte proliferation, migration, differentiation and membrane wrapping in the absence of neuronal signals. Here we describe protocols for the fabrication and preparation of nanofibers aligned on glass coverslips for the study of membrane wrapping by rodent oligodendrocytes. The entire protocol can be completed within 2 weeks.
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurology and Program in Neuroscience, University of California, San Francisco, San Francisco, California, USA.
authors.forename: Seonok
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Lee
authors.forename: S Y Christin
authors.initials: SY
authors.lastname: Chong
authors.forename: Samuel J
authors.initials: SJ
authors.lastname: Tuck
authors.forename: Joseph M
authors.initials: JM
authors.lastname: Corey
authors.forename: Jonah R
authors.initials: JR
authors.lastname: Chan
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D018929:Cell Culture Techniques; D002454:Cell Differentiation; D002465:Cell Movement; D049109:Cell Proliferation; D002478:Cells, Cultured; D051379:Mice; D008954:Models, Biological; D009186:Myelin Sheath / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000502:physiology; D057139:Nanofibers / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000648:ultrastructure; D009836:Oligodendroglia / Q000166:cytology / Q000648:ultrastructure; D051381:Rats; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D013499:Surface Properties; D054457:Tissue Scaffolds