%0 Journal Article
%@ 1616-301X
%A Chapman, CAR
%A Wang, L
%A Chen, H
%A Garrison, J
%A Lein, PJ
%A Seker, E
%D 2017
%F discovery:1556760
%J Advanced Functional Materials
%K cell–material interactions; electrophysiology; nanoporous gold; nanostructure libraries; neural interfaces
%N 3
%T Nanoporous Gold Biointerfaces: Modifying Nanostructure to Control Neural Cell Coverage and Enhance Electrophysiological Recording Performance
%U https://discovery.ucl.ac.uk/id/eprint/1556760/
%V 27
%X Nanostructured neural interface coatings have significantly enhanced recording fidelity in both implantable and in vitro devices. As such, nanoporous gold (np-Au) has shown promise as a multifunctional neural interface coating due, in part, to its ability to promote nanostructure-mediated reduction in astrocytic surface coverage while not affecting neuronal coverage. The goal of this study is to provide insight into the mechanisms by which the np-Au nanostructure drives the differential response of neurons versus astrocytes in an in vitro model. Utilizing microfabricated libraries that display varying feature sizes of np-Au, it is demonstrated that np-Au influences neural cell coverage through modulating focal adhesion formation in a feature size-dependent manner. The results here show that surfaces with small (≈30 nm) features control astrocyte spreading through inhibition of focal adhesion formation, while surfaces with large (≈170 nm and greater) features control astrocyte spreading through other mechanotransduction mechanisms. This cellular response combined with lower electrical impedance of np-Au electrodes significantly enhances the fidelity and stability of electrophysiological recordings from cortical neuron-glia co-cultures relative to smooth gold electrodes. Finally, by leveraging the effect of nanostructure on neuronal versus glial cell attachment, the use of laser-based nanostructure modulation is demonstrated for selectively patterning neurons with micrometer spatial resolution.
%Z This version is the author accepted manuscript. For information on re-use, please refer to the publisher’s terms and conditions.