Contemporary regenerative therapies have introduced stem-like cells to replace damaged neurons in the visual system by recapitulating critical processes of eye development. The collective migration of neural stem cells is fundamental to retinogenesis and has been exceptionally well-studied using the fruit fly model of Drosophila Melanogaster. However, the migratory behavior of its retinal neuroblasts (RNBs) has been surprisingly understudied, despite being critical to retinal development in this invertebrate model. The current project developed a new microfluidic system to examine the collective migration of RNBs extracted from the developing visual system of Drosophila as a model for the collective motile processes of replacement neural stem cells. The system scales with the microstructure of the Drosophila optic stalk, which is a pre-cursor to the optic nerve, to produce signaling fields spatially comparable to in vivo RNB stimuli. Experiments used the micro-optic stalk system, or μOS, to demonstrate the preferred sizing and directional migration of collective, motile RNB groups in response to changes in exogenous concentrations of fibroblast growth factor (FGF), which is a key factor in development. Our data highlight the importance of cell-to-cell contacts in enabling cell cohesion during collective RNB migration and point to the unexplored synergy of invertebrate cell study and microfluidic platforms to advance regenerative strategies.

中文翻译：

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用于模拟视网膜神经母细胞集体迁移的微光柄（μOS）系统。

当代的再生疗法已经通过概述眼睛发育的关键过程，引入了干细胞样细胞来替代视觉系统中受损的神经元。神经干细胞的集体迁移是视网膜发生的基础，并且使用果蝇果蝇模型进行了很好的研究。然而，尽管它对这种无脊椎动物模型中的视网膜发育至关重要，但其视网膜神经母细胞（RNB）的迁移行为却出人意料地得到了研究。当前项目开发了一种新的微流体系统，以检查从果蝇发育中的视觉系统中提取的RNB的集体迁移，以此作为替代神经干细胞集体运动过程的模型。该系统随着果蝇视杆的微结构而扩展，它是视神经的前体，在空间上产生与体内RNB刺激相当的信号传导场。实验使用微光杆系统或μOS来证明集体，活动的RNB基团的优选大小和方向迁移，以响应成纤维细胞生长因子（FGF）的外源浓度变化，这是发育中的关键因素。我们的数据强调了细胞间接触在集体RNB迁移过程中实现细胞凝聚的重要性，并指出了无脊椎动物细胞研究和微流控平台在探索再生策略方面的未开发协同作用。运动的RNB基团响应于外源成纤维细胞生长因子（FGF）浓度的变化，这是发育中的关键因素。我们的数据强调了细胞间接触在集体RNB迁移过程中实现细胞凝聚的重要性，并指出了无脊椎动物细胞研究和微流控平台在探索再生策略方面的未开发协同作用。运动的RNB基团响应于外源成纤维细胞生长因子（FGF）浓度的变化，这是发育中的关键因素。我们的数据突显了细胞间接触在集体RNB迁移过程中实现细胞凝聚的重要性，并指出了无脊椎动物细胞研究和微流体平台在探索再生策略方面未开发的协同作用。