The long-term application of central nervous system implants is currently limited by the negative response of the brain tissue, affecting both the performance of the device and the survival of nearby cells. Topographical modification of implant surfaces mimicking the structure and dimensions of the extracellular matrix may provide a solution to this negative tissue response and has been shown to affect the attachment and behavior of both neurons and astrocytes. In our study, commonly used neural implant materials, silicon, and platinum were tested with or without nanoscale surface modifications. No biological coatings were used in order to only examine the effect of the nanostructuring.We seeded primary mouse astrocytes and hippocampal neurons onto four different surfaces: flat polysilicon, nanostructured polysilicon, and platinum-coated versions of these surfaces. Fluorescent wide-field, confocal, and scanning electron microscopy were used to characterize the attachment, spreading and proliferation of these cell types. In case of astrocytes, we found that both cell number and average cell spreading was significantly larger on platinum, compared to silicon surfaces, while silicon surfaces impeded glial proliferation. Nanostructuring did not have a significant effect on either parameter in astrocytes but influenced the orientation of actin filaments and glial fibrillary acidic protein fibers. Neuronal soma attachment was impaired on metal surfaces while nanostructuring seemed to influence neuronal growth cone morphology, regardless of surface material. Taken together, the type of metals tested had a profound influence on cellular responses, which was only slightly modified by nanopatterning.Anita Pongrácz and Katalin Schlett contributed equally to this study.
Various methods are currently under development to enhance the biocompatibility of neural electrodes and to minimize the reactive gliosis around the implant surface. As cells in their native microenvironment interact with 3D nanoscale topographies of the extracellular matrix, physical modification of implant surfaces may provide an alternative solution to the negative tissue response by imitating the structure of the extracellular matrix, and therefore affecting the attachment and behavior of neurons and glial cells. The attachment of primary mouse astrocytes on nanostructured SU8 polymer surfaces fabricated by e-beam lithography was investigated in our study. We found that attachment of primary mouse astrocytes on silicon-SU8 surfaces is strongly influenced by the surface topography.
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