Hippocampal neurons cultured on a substrate immobilized with a cell adhesion molecule called N-cadherin as seen on the LSM 700. The green color represents microtubule-associated protein 2 (MAP2), a marker for neurons. The red color represents glial fibrillary acidic protein, a marker for glia. The blue color is DAPI staining of the nuclei. The picture is taken on the Zeiss LSM 700 confocal microscope.

The images show that neurons exhibit high levels of branching, neurite extensions, and neural connectivity when they are cultured on N-cadherin based substrates. In addition, the substrate also adheres glial cells, which are non-neuronal cells that support neuronal function. Together, this platform is useful for the generation of neurons for the fundamental studies of neuronal diseases and development, and can potentially be used to replace and repair diseased or damaged neurons in the brain.