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Ojective: Axons are guided toward desired targets through a series of choice points that they navigate by sensing cues in the cellular environment. A better understanding of how microenvironmental factors influence neurite growth during development can inform strategies to address nerve injury. Therefore, there is a need for biomimetic models to systematically investigate the influence of guidance cues at such choice points., Approach: We ran an adapted in silico biased turning axon growth model under the influence of nerve growth factor (NGF) and compared the results to corresponding in vitro experiments. We examined if growth simulations were predictive of neurite population behavior at a choice point. We used a biphasic micropatterned hydrogel system consisting of an outer cell restrictive mold that enclosed a bifurcated cell permissive region and placed a well near a bifurcating end to allow proteins to diffuse and form a gradient. Experimental diffusion profiles in these constructs were used to validate a diffusion computational model that utilized experimentally measured diffusion coefficients in hydrogels. The computational diffusion model was then used to establish defined soluble gradients within the permissive region of the hydrogels and maintain the profiles in physiological ranges for an extended period of time. Computational diffusion profiles informed the neurite growth model, which was compared with neurite growth experiments in the bifurcating hydrogel constructs., Main Results: Results indicated that when applied to the constrained choice point geometry, the biased turning model predicted experimental behavior closely. Results for both simulated and in vitro neurite growth studies showed a significant chemoattractive response toward the bifurcated end containing an NGF gradient compared to the control, though some neurites were found in the end with no NGF gradient., Significance: The integrated model of neurite growth we describe will allow comparison of experimental studies against growth cone guidance computational models applied to axon pathfinding at choice points.

The direct effect of guidance cues on developing and regenerating axons in vivo is not fully understood, as the process involves a multiplicity of attractive and repulsive signals, presented both as soluble and membrane-bound ligands. A better understanding of axon guidance is critical to functional recovery following injury to the nervous system through improved outgrowth and mapping of damaged nerves. Due to their implications as inhibitors to central nervous system regeneration, we investigated the repulsive properties of semaphorin 6A and ephrin-B3 on E15 rat dorsal root ganglion explants, as well as possible interactions with soluble gradients of chemoattractive nerve growth factor (NGF). We employed a 3D biomimetic in vitro choice point model, which enabled the simple and rapid preparation of patterned gel growth matrices with quantifiable presentation of guidance cues in a specifiable manner that resembles the in vivo presentation of soluble and/or immobilized ligands. Neurites demonstrated an inhibitory response to immobilized Sema6A by lumbosacral dorsal root ganglion explants, while no such repulsion was observed for immobilized ephrin-B3 by explants at any spinal level. Interestingly, Sema6A inhibition could be partially attenuated in a concentration-dependent manner through the simultaneous presentation of soluble NGF gradients. The in vitro model described herein represents a versatile and valuable investigative tool in the quest for understanding developmental processes and improving regeneration following nervous system injury.

Chemotactic and haptotactic cues guide neurite growth toward appropriate targets by eliciting attractive or repulsive responses from the neurite growth cones. Here we present an integrated system allowing both structural and molecular micropatterning in dual hydrogel 3D tissue culture constructs for directing in vitro neuronal growth via structural, immobilized, and soluble guidance cues. These tissue culture constructs were fabricated into specifiable geometries using UV light reflected from a digital micromirror device acting as a dynamic photomask, resulting in dual hydrogel constructs consisting of a cell growth-restrictive polyethylene glycol (PEG) boundary with a cell growth-permissive interior of photolabile α-carboxy-2-nitrobenzyl cysteine agarose (CNBC-A). This CNBC-A was irradiated in discrete areas and subsequently tagged with maleimide-conjugated biomolecules. Fluorescent microscopy showed biomolecule binding only at the sites of irradiation in CNBC-A, and confocal microscopy confirmed 3D binding through the depth of the construct. Neurite outgrowth studies showed contained growth throughout CNBC-A. The diffusion rate of soluble fluorescein-bovine serum albumin through the dual hydrogel construct was controlled by PEG concentration and the distance between the protein source and the agarose interior; the timescale for a transient protein gradient changed with these parameters. These findings suggest the dual hydrogel system is a useful platform for manipulating a 3D in vitro microenvironment with patterned structural and molecular guidance cues for modeling neural growth and guidance.