An important feature of these microfluidic chambers is the ability to fluidically and genetically manipulate two neuronal populations independently. The genetic manipulation of each compartment facilitates not only the visualization of processes (via the expression of distinct fluorescent proteins) but also the ability to manipulate signaling molecules via dominant negative approaches. Future work could employ neurons from different brain regions to study physiologically relevant circuits. Neurodegenerative diseases often selectively impair certain circuits (e.g., the cholinergic pathway in Alzheimer's disease), making an in vitro model extremely valuable. Given the availability of numerous transgenic disease models, there are many possible configurations using the microfluidic chambers that will enable cell biological investigations of neurodegenerative disease.
