Neuronal progenitor cells (NPC) play an essential role in homeostasis of the central nervous system (CNS). Considering their ability to differentiate into specific lineages, their manipulation and control could have a major therapeutic impact for those CNS injuries or degenerative diseases characterized by neuronal cell loss. In this work, we established an in vitro co-culture and tested the ability of foetal NPC (fNPC) to integrate among post-mitotic hippocampal neurons and contribute to the electrical activity of the resulting networks. We performed extracellular electrophysiological recordings of the activity of neuronal networks and compared the properties of spontaneous spiking in hippocampal control cultures (HCC), fNPC, and mixed circuitries ex vivo. We further employed patch-clamp intracellular recordings to examine single-cell excitability. We report of the capability of fNPC to mature when combined to hippocampal neurons, shaping the profile of network activity, a result suggestive of newly formed connectivity ex vivo.

中文翻译：

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胎儿神经祖细胞有助于离体形成产后回路：电生理研究。

神经元祖细胞（NPC）在中枢神经系统（CNS）的体内平衡中起重要作用。考虑到它们分化为特定谱系的能力，它们的操纵和控制可能会对那些以神经元细胞丢失为特征的中枢神经系统损伤或退行性疾病产生重大的治疗影响。在这项工作中，我们建立了体外共培养，并测试了胎儿NPC（fNPC）在有丝分裂后海马神经元之间整合并促进所产生网络的电活动的能力。我们进行了神经元网络活动的细胞外电生理学记录，并比较了海马控制培养物（HCC），fNPC和离体混合电路中自发尖峰的特性。我们进一步采用膜片钳细胞内记录来检查单细胞兴奋性。我们报道了fNPC与海马神经元结合后成熟的能力，塑造了网络活动的轮廓，这表明离体新形成的连接性。