Development of a nanomaterial bio-screening platform for neurological applications

Nanoparticle platforms are being intensively investigated for neurological applications. Current biological models used to identify clinically relevant materials have major limitations, e.g. technical/ethical issues with live animal experimentation, failure to replicate neural cell diversity, limited control over cellular stoichiometries and poor reproducibility. High-throughput neuro-mimetic screening systems are required to address these challenges. We describe an advanced multicellular neural model comprising the major non-neuronal/glial cells of the central nervous system (CNS), shown to account for ~99.5% of CNS nanoparticle uptake. This model offers critical advantages for neuro-nanomaterials testing while reducing animal use: one primary source and culture medium for all cell types, standardized biomolecular corona formation and defined/reproducible cellular stoichiometry. Using dynamic time-lapse imaging, we demonstrate in real-time that microglia (neural immune cells) dramatically limit particle uptake in other neural subtypes (paralleling post-mortem observations after nanoparticle injection in vivo), highlighting the utility of the system in predicting neural handling of biomaterials.