ArticleNature protocols2020
On-chip 3D neuromuscular model for drug screening and precision medicine in neuromuscular disease.
Article in Nature protocols, 2020. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 81 papers.
What it found
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The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
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Who cites it
81 citing papers in PubMed, 142 citations in OpenAlex.
- From optical control to translational readiness: an evidence-tiered framework for optogenetics in neuromuscular and neurological disorders.Materials today. Bio · 2026Review
- Quantitative Analysis of Axonal Degeneration and TDP-43 Aggregation in Compartmentalized Human iPSC-Derived Motor Neuron-Myotube Co-cultures.Bio-protocol · 2026Article
- Manufacturing, Cell Regulation, and Coculture Strategies for Vascularization and Neural Innervation of Skeletal Muscle Tissue.Advanced healthcare materials · 2026Review
- Limb-on-a-Chip: An All-Hydrogel Platform for Scalable and Reproducible Engineering of Functional Neuromuscular Tissues.Cell biomaterials · 2026Article
- A Microphysiological Interface of Skeletal Myobundles and Inflamed Adipose Tissue for Recapitulating Muscle Dysfunction in an Obese Microenvironment.Advanced healthcare materials · 2026Article
- Human Multi-Organ-on-a-Chip Platforms for Next-Generation Drug Delivery Strategies.Theranostics · 2026Review
- Neuromuscular junction formation by compartmentalized culture using human iPS cell-derived motor neurons and skeletal muscle cells.Frontiers in neural circuits · 2026Article
- An Innovative "Tooth-On-Chip" Microfluidic Device Emulating the Structure and Physiology of the Dental Pulp Tissue.Advanced healthcare materials · 2026Article
- Development and modeling of cardiac autonomic innervation.Nature cardiovascular research · 2025Review
- Neural network tissue and myocytes co-culture system reveals effects of different myocytes on postnatal development of spinal cord neural network.Cellular and molecular life sciences : CMLS · 2025Article
- The role of 3D printing in skeletal muscle-on-a-chip models: Current applications and future potential.Materials today. Bio · 2025Article
- Geometrically-engineered human motor assembloids-on-a-chip for neuromuscular interaction readout and hypoxia-driven disease modeling.Nature communications · 2025Article
- Geometrical constraints dictate assembly and phenotype of human iPSC-derived motoneuronal spheroids.Stem cell research & therapy · 2025Article
- Tissue-engineered neuromuscular organoids.Communications biology · 2025Article
- A forward-engineered, muscle-driven soft robotic swimmer.Science advances · 2025Article
- The Application of Microfluidic Chips in Primary Urological Cancer: Recent Advances and Future Perspectives.Smart medicine · 2025Review
- Organs on chips: fundamentals, bioengineering and applications.Journal of artificial organs : the official journal of the Japanese Society for Artificial Organs · 2025Review
- Leveraging microtopography to pattern multi-oriented muscle actuators.Biomaterials science · 2025Article
- Human iPSC-Derived Motor Neuron Innervation Enhances the Differentiation of Muscle Bundles Engineered with Benchtop Fabrication Techniques.ACS biomaterials science & engineering · 2025Article
- Actuating Extracellular Matrices Decouple the Mechanical and Biochemical Effects of Muscle Contraction on Motor Neurons.Advanced healthcare materials · 2025Article
21 more citing papers are in PubMed but not listed here.
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
3 authors at 2 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
This protocol describes the design, fabrication and use of a 3D physiological and pathophysiological motor unit model consisting of motor neurons coupled to skeletal muscles interacting via the neuromuscular junction (NMJ) within a microfluidic device. This model facilitates imaging and quantitative functional assessment. The 'NMJ chip' enables real-time, live imaging of axonal outgrowth, NMJ formation and muscle maturation, as well as synchronization of motor neuron activity and muscle contraction under optogenetic control for the study of normal physiological events. The proposed protocol takes ~2-3 months to be implemented. Pathological behaviors associated with various neuromuscular diseases, such as regression of motor neuron axons, motor neuron death, and muscle degradation and atrophy can also be recapitulated in this system. Disease models can be created by the use of patient-derived induced pluripotent stem cells to generate both the motor neurons and skeletal muscle cells used. This is demonstrated by the use of cells from a patient with sporadic amyotrophic lateral sclerosis but can be applied more generally to models of neuromuscular disease, such as spinal muscular atrophy, NMJ disorder and muscular dystrophy. Models such as this hold considerable potential for applications in precision medicine, drug screening and disease risk assessment.
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Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.