Authors: Reilly Allison, Emily Welby, Vanessa Ehlers, Anthony Burand, Jr, Olena Isaeva, Damaris D Nieves Torres, Janelle Highland, Amanda M. Brandow, Cheryl L Stucky, and Allison D Ebert
Blood, 1 March 2024
Scientists use Axion’s hands-free Maestro MEA platform to investigate the mechanisms underlying acute and chronic pain in people with sickle cell disease.
Acute and chronic pain are common in people living with sickle cell disease (SCD), but the underlying mechanisms are difficult to study due to limited tissue availability and insufficient in vivo models. In this study, scientists used induced pluripotent stem cell (iPSC)-derived sensory neurons from SCD patients to model SCD-associated pain and assess underlying pain mechanisms. To assess the functionality of healthy control (HC) and SCD iPSC-derived sensory neurons in vitro, the scientists used Axion BioSystems’ noninvasive Maestro multielectrode array (MEA) platform. MEA findings demonstrated that without noxious stimuli, HC and SCD neurons exhibited similar spontaneous and evoked activity, suggesting SCD neurons are functionally mature. Overall, the authors suggest that the study “establishes a human-specific model of SCD and proposes the novel finding that both intrinsic and extrinsic factors may underlie SCD pain.”
