Microelectrode arrays (MEAs) have been in use over the past decade and a half to study
multiple aspects of electrically excitable cells. In particular, MEAs have been applied
to explore the pharmacological and toxicological effects of numerous compounds on
spontaneous activity of neuronal and cardiac cell networks. The MEA system enables
simultaneous extracellular recordings from multiple sites in the network in real time,
increasing spatial resolution and thereby providing a robust measure of network activity.
The simultaneous gathering of action potential and field potential data over long
periods of time allows the monitoring of network functions that arise from the interaction
of all cellular mechanisms responsible for spatio-temporal pattern generation. In
these functional, dynamic systems, physical, chemical, and pharmacological perturbations
are holistically reflected by the tissue responses. Such features make MEA technology
well suited for the screening of compounds of interest, and also allow scaling to
high throughput systems that can record from multiple, separate cell networks simultaneously
in multi-well chips or plates. This article is designed to be useful to newcomers
to this technology as well as those who are currently using MEAs in their research.
It explains how MEA systems operate, summarizes what systems are available, and provides
a discussion of emerging mathematical schemes that can be used for a rapid classification
of drug or chemical effects. Current efforts that will expand this technology to an
influential, high throughput, electrophysiological approach for reliable determinations
of compound toxicity are also described and a comprehensive review of toxicological
publications using MEAs is provided as an appendix to this publication. Overall, this
article highlights the benefits and promise of MEA technology as a high throughput,
rapid screening method for toxicity testing.
(c) 2010 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.