One-dimensional acoustic potential landscapes guide the neurite outgrowth and affect the viability of B35 neuroblastoma cells

Abstract

On the way towards neuronal stimulation and signalling, standing surface acoustic waves (SSAW) have become a widely used technique to create well-defined networks of living cells in vitro during the past years. An overall challenge in this research area is to maintain cell viability in long-term treatments long enough to observe changes in cellular functions. To close this gap, we here investigate SSAW-directed neurite outgrowth of B35 (neuroblastoma) cells in microchannels on LiNbO3 chips, employing one-dimensional pulsed and continuous MHz-order SSAW signals at different intensities for up to 40 hours. To increase the efficiency of future investigations, we explore the limits of applicable SSAW parameters by quantifying their viability and proliferation behaviour in this long-term setup. While cell viability is impaired for power levels above 15 dBm (32 mW), our investigations on SSAW-directed neurite outgrowth reveal a significant increase of neurites growing in preferential directions by up to 31.3 % after 30 hours of SSAW treatment.

Pulsed surface acoustic waves accelerate wound healing and reveal new parameter limits for cell stimulation in vitro

“…As mentioned above, for the here employed pulsed SAW powers the increase in temperature is very low (∆T ⩽ 0.2 K, cf SI figure 1). Previous studies already proved that pulsed SAW signals are a useful tool to reduce temperature effects and maintain cell viability while also maintaining the amplitude of the applied wave for cell culture applications [10]. In the context of wound healing stimulation, Brugger et al showed that SAW treatment of wounds with a continuous P in = 21 dBm signal reduces the proliferation rate and does not induce a stimulation effect compared to moderate SAW powers [13].…”

“…The generation of SAW on a chip for the stimulation, manipulation and non-invasive analysis of cells has become an established method in cell biology over the past years [8]. Previous studies show that neurite outgrowth of neuroblastoma cells and of primary neurons can be guided by acoustically modulated standing SAW in microchannels [9,10]. In the field of stimulation, Stamp et al showed that travelling SAW at about f SAW = 160 MHz can accelerate SaOs-2 cell growth in wound healing assays by up to 17% [11].…”