eprintid: 37080
rev_number: 17
eprint_status: archive
userid: 9205
dir: disk0/00/03/70/80
datestamp: 2025-08-11 09:43:05
lastmod: 2025-08-18 09:07:03
status_changed: 2025-08-11 09:43:05
type: doctoralThesis
metadata_visibility: show
creators_name: Casale, Stephen Louis
title: The Emergent Properties of PC12 Populations in Confinement
subjects: ddc-000
divisions: i-160001
adv_faculty: af-19
keywords: Materials Science, 3D Printing, Biology, Neuroscience
cterms_swd: Ingenieurwissenschaften
cterms_swd: Biologie
cterms_swd: Werkstoffkunde
abstract: This study explores neuron-like PC12 behavior in vitro with a focus on neuronal interactions within confined microenvironments, addressing a gap in neurobiological research related to spatially constrained neuron behavior. While previous studies have examined neuronal interactions with synthetic structures, how neuron populations selectively navigate confined areas has been underinvestigated. This work interrogates neuronal responses to spatial constraints by confining neuron-like PC12 cell populations inside 3D-printed microenvironments on glass substrates. The microenvironments enable localized interaction with neighboring cells and the printed structure. Key parameters analyzed include neurite outgrowth, migration, and cell proliferation in relation to confinement. The results reveal that PC12 cells in contact with structural features exhibit longer neurite outgrowth and a preference for maintaining contact rather than occupying open spaces within the confinement. Time-lapse imaging confirms PC12 cells actively seek structural interactions, a behavior not widely investigated up to now. These findings underscore the role played by spatial constraints in neuronal network formation and highlight how structural contact could guide neuronal behavior in confinement. The insights gained could enhance neurobiological modeling and tissue engineering, and suggest that a better understanding of spatially structured environments could improve neural tissue models. Future research could expand on these findings by varying confinement geometries and materials and investigating additional aspects of cellular behavior, to possibly advance bioengineering efforts that aim to create brain-like tissue structures and neural interfaces.
date: 2025
id_scheme: DOI
id_number: 10.11588/heidok.00037080
ppn_swb: 1933375329
own_urn: urn:nbn:de:bsz:16-heidok-370805
date_accepted: 2025-07-24
advisor: HASH(0x558b45958c00)
language: eng
bibsort: CASALESTEPTHEEMERGEN
full_text_status: public
place_of_pub: Heidelberg
citation:   Casale, Stephen Louis  (2025) The Emergent Properties of PC12 Populations in Confinement.  [Dissertation]     
document_url: https://archiv.ub.uni-heidelberg.de/volltextserver/37080/1/casale_stephen_komplett.pdf