Abstract
There is growing interest in engineering nerve cells in vitro to control architecture and connectivity of cultured neuronal networks or to build neuronal networks with predictable computational function. Pattern technologies, such as micro-contact printing, have been developed to design ordered neuronal networks. However, electrophysiological characteristics of the single patterned neuron haven’t been reported. Here, micro-contact printing, using polyolefine polymer (POP) stamps with high resolution, was employed to grow cortical neurons in a designed structure. The results demonstrated that the morphology of patterned neurons was well constrained, and the number of dendrites was decreased to be about 2. Our electrophysiological results showed that alterations of dendritic morphology affected firing patterns of neurons and neural excitability. When stimulated by current, though both patterned and un-patterned neurons presented regular spiking, the dynamics and strength of the response were different. The un-patterned neurons exhibited a monotonically increasing firing frequency in response to injected current, while the patterned neurons first exhibited frequency increase and then a slow decrease. Our findings indicate that the decrease in dendritic complexity of cortical neurons will influence their electrophysiological characteristics and alter their information processing activity, which could be considered when designing neuronal circuitries.
Highlights
IntroductionPrevious studies of patterned neuronal networks cultured on multi-electrode arrays (MEAs) have shown their different network activity compared to random dissociated cultures[20,21,22,23]
A computational model made of meta-neurons was used to explain the dynamics of patterned neuronal networks on multi-electrode arrays (MEAs), and the simulated results showed the complexity of dendrites influenced the dynamics of single neuron activity and the whole network[11]
Patch clamp technique has been applied to patterned neurons, and the results demonstrated that the morphology restrictions would not impede the neuronal formation of different connectivity patterns[24,25,26]
Summary
Previous studies of patterned neuronal networks cultured on multi-electrode arrays (MEAs) have shown their different network activity compared to random dissociated cultures[20,21,22,23]. A computational model made of meta-neurons was used to explain the dynamics of patterned neuronal networks on MEAs, and the simulated results showed the complexity of dendrites influenced the dynamics of single neuron activity and the whole network[11]. Patch clamp technique has been applied to patterned neurons, and the results demonstrated that the morphology restrictions would not impede the neuronal formation of different connectivity patterns[24,25,26]. We found some distinct electrophysiological characteristics between patterned and un-patterned neurons, which demonstrated that the dendritic structure is influencing the firing properties
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