Modeling the mature CNS: A predictive screening platform for neurodegenerative disease drug discovery

• Published in: Journal of neuroscience methods Vol. 358; p. 109180
• Main Authors: LaBarbera, Kelsie Mozzoni, Limegrover, Colleen, Rehak, Courtney, Yurko, Raymond, Izzo, Nicholas John, Knezovich, Nicole, Watto, Emily, Waybright, Lora, Catalano, Susan M.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Netherlands Elsevier B.V 01-07-2021
• Subjects: Alzheimer’s disease; Amyloid beta; Drug discovery; Neurons; Oligomers; Primary neurons; Screening methods; Therapeutics discovery; Tissue culture; AD; Alzheimer’s disease; Neurons; Tissue culture; E18; GFAP; DIV; Oligomers; Aβ; Amyloid beta; MAP2; HBSS; Drug discovery; Screening methods; Primary neurons; Therapeutics discovery
• ISSN: 0165-0270; 1872-678X
• DOI: 10.1016/j.jneumeth.2021.109180

Mature primary neuronal cultures are an important model of the nervous system, but limited scalability has been a major challenge in their use for drug discovery of neurodegenerative diseases. This work describes a method for improving scalability through the use of larger format microtiter plates while preserving culture quality.
Here we describe a method and quality control procedures for growing embryonic day 18 rat hippocampal/cortical neuronal cultures in 384-well microtiter plates for three weeks in vitro.
We use these cultures in two assays measuring intracellular lipid vesicle trafficking and synapse density for routine screening of small molecule libraries. Together this culture system and screening platform have successfully identified therapeutics capable of improving cognitive function in transgenic models of Alzheimer’s disease that have advanced to clinical trials, validating their translational applicability.
Our method enables the growth of healthy, mature neurons in larger format microtiter plates than in traditional primary neuronal culturing protocols, making it ideal for drug screening and mechanism of action studies.
The predictive capacity of this culture system and screening platform provides a method for rapidly identifying novel disease-modifying neurodegenerative therapeutics.