The OMEGA-NMJ device has been specifically designed to best recapitulate neuromuscular synaptic physiology in vitro.

Current attempts of modeling the neuromuscular junction in vitro rely on culturing neurons directly on top of a monolayer of skeletal muscle. However, these simple co-culture models suffer from two major pitfalls when it comes to reproducing the mammalian NMJ. First, motor neuron somas do not come in physical contact with skeletal muscle. Interaction with skeletal muscle is achieved exclusively through their projecting axons. Second, monolayer cultures (i.e. 2D) of skeletal muscle do not fully mature as they cannot be kept in culture for a sufficient period of time.

The design of the OMEGA-NMJ device addresses both these problems. The OMEGA-NMJ employs the same chamber-isolating microchannels of our OMEGA-4 device to fluidically isolate a pair of adjacent chambers. This provides physical distance between the neuronal and skeletal muscle cultures while allowing neuronal axonal projections full access to the muscle chamber.

The uniqueness of the OMEGA-NMJ doesn’t end there – the muscle chamber of the device contains two micropillars that form anchor points for the formation of 3D skeletal muscle microtissue. Compared to monolayer cultures, these 3D cultures are more stable for long-term culture applications and mature rapidly and more completely, making 3D skeletal muscle cultures ideal for establishing long-term motoneuron/muscle co-cultures.

As with all eNUVIO’s OMEGA series, the OMEGA-NMJ has open-top chambers, giving researchers the ability to use explants or self-assembled 3D cultures (e.g. spheroids, organoids) in addition to primary or iPSC-derived neurons in their experiments.

Each device contains two adjoined pairs of chambers, so two separate experiments can be performed with one device. The devices come ready-to-use in culture – they are sterile, hydrophilic and are pre-bonded a PDMS base.

#shorts