The development of human neural tissue models has been a strong focus within the Oxford Centre for Tissue Engineering and Bioprocessing (OCTEB) headed by Prof Cathy Ye. The group specialises in developing suitable biomaterials as scaffolds and culture techniques to support 3D neuronal cell culture. Facilities such as microelectrode arrays, patch clamp, nanoindenter and etc. have been used to investigate the properties of neuronal cells under different stimuli to understand cell behaviour both in healthy and diseased status.

Figure 1: Neuron cells interact with ion track etched polycarbonate membrane.

Figure 2: Human induced pluripotent stem cells (hiPSCs) derived neurons cultured in hydrogel for three months with well aligned neurite and astrocyte extensions.