Neurobiology increasingly endeavours combining material science, nanotechnology and cell biology to engineer hybrid constructs where a cellular phase and a synthetic phase are merged together and promote novel function to complex bio-systems. Carbon nanotubes (CNTs), due to their physicochemical properties, have played a key role in this contest. With proven in-vitro and in-vivo cellular biocompatibility[1] and the ease of growth or immobilisation on virtually every surfaces, CNTs possess the ability to interact intimately with cellular membranes leading to the emergence of a hybrid organic/inorganic interface between cells and CNTs. Surprisingly, in the case of nerve cells, this hybrid is ultimately responsible of a boost in neuronal activity[2].
This powerful symbiosis, although not entirely understood in its mechanisms, is presumably facilitated by the good matching of CNTs’ (nano)dimensionality with cells’ membrane and cytoskeletal constituents (e.g. actin and tubulin filaments). The most surprising point is the ability of this local interaction to be translated into cues driving the entire synaptic network development system[3].
Here we exploit the ability to grow CNTs in form of patterns of any arbitrary shape and dimension on a supporting surface in addition to that of decorating the surface of complex supporting scaffolds by CNTs to create innovative hybrid interfaces, in both 2D and 3D fashion. CNT interfaced neurons were characterised in morphology via electron microscopy (EM) and histochemistry while network functionality was described in terms of network activity via calcium imaging analysis. The establishment of a hybrid, CNT coupled, neuronal network opens, for the first time, to the possibility to develop new composite systems where organic and inorganic phases will cooperate together to carry out novel effective functionalities. By a parallel approach we investigated cell-membrane interactions with the artificial materials, to address the core mechanisms instructing cell behaviours.
In particular, we hope our studies and knowledge on nanomaterials and neurons will help to engineer novel devices towards unconventional neuro-medicine applications.
References:
[1] Bosi S, Rauti R, Laishram J, Turco T, Lonardoni D, Nieus T, Prato M, Scaini D, Ballerini L From 2D to 3D: novel nanostructured scaffolds to investigate signalling in reconstructed neuronal networks. Sci. Rep. 2015, 5:9562
[2] Lovat V, Pantarotto D, Lagostena L, Cacciari B, Grandolfo M, Righi M, Spalluto G, Prato M, Ballerini L. Carbon nanotube substrates boost neuronal electrical signaling. Nano Lett. 2005, 5(6):1107-10.
[3] Cellot G, Cilia E, Cipollone S, Rancic V, Sucapane A, Giordani S, Gambazzi L, Markram H, Grandolfo M, Scaini D, Gelain F, Casalis L, Prato M, Giugliano M, Ballerini L. Carbon nanotubes might improve neuronal performance by favouring electrical shortcuts. Nat Nanotechnol. 2009, 4(2):126-33.