Enhanced Sensitivity in Neurotoxicity Detection via Cross-Correlation of Spectroscopical and Electrophysiological...

Neurotoxicity detection using electrophysiological readouts is limited in sensing chemically induced variations across neuronal ion channels. Thus, supportive knowledge of the neuronal biochemical environment may unveil hidden neurotoxicity mechanisms. Herein, we integrated a spectroscopical, via Raman spectroscopy, and an electrophysiological, via microelectrode array, readout for monitoring the neurotoxic effects of gabazine, a known epileptiform inducer, toward neuronal rat primary cells. The monitoring and correlation of the spectroscopic and electrophysiological features, prior to and following the gabazine exposure, highlighted the advantages in the monitoring and correlation of these biological complementary features, suggesting an innovative and more sensitive approach for neurotoxicity detection in the drug discovery and development pipeline.