Sensory neurons and osteoblasts: close partners in a microfluidic platform

Innervation has proven to be critical in bone homeostasis/regeneration due to the effect of soluble factors, produced by nerve fibers, associated with changes in the activity of bone cells. Thus, in this study, we have established and characterized a coculture system comprising sensory neurons and osteoblasts to mimic the in vivo scenario where nerve fibers can be found in a bone microenvironment. Embryonic or adult primary dorsal root ganglion (DRG) and MC3T3-E1 osteoblastic cells were cocultured in compartmentalized microfluidic platforms and morphological and functional tests were performed. The time of adhesion and readout of axonal outgrowth were improved by the alignment of DRG with the axis of microgrooves, which showed to be a crucial step for the designed experiments. Cocultures of entire DRG from adult origin with osteoblasts were performed, showing extended DRG projections tow…