Long-term culture and spontaneous recordings of primary neurons on conducting polymer microelectrode arrays

Abstract

Event Abstract Back to Event Long-term culture and spontaneous recordings of primary neurons on conducting polymer microelectrode arrays Jolien Pas1, Dimitrios A. Koutsouras1 and George Malliaras1 1 Ecole Nationale Supérieure des Mines de Saint-Etienne, Bioelectronics, France Microelectrode arrays (MEAs) have widely been used as diagnostic tool to improve our understanding of the beautiful yet extremely complex nervous system. MEAs are used to record and stimulate brain tissue or neuronal cells, thereby providing a platform for both in vivo and in vitro experiments. To circumvent the complexity of the nervous system, in vitro measurements enable us to simplify the biological environment and help us to attain specific essential neuronal knowledge. By using one of the most promising conducting polymers poly(3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene):poly(styrenesulfonate) (PEDOT: PSS), unique MEAs are developed[1] with an ideal dual character for neuronal interfacing due to their potential to conduct both electronic and ionic carriers. Nevertheless, it remains a challenge to culture and maintain a healthy primary neural cell culture over a long period of time to record their spontaneous electrical cell activity. Here we show long-term survival of primary cortex cells on PEDOT:PSS coated MEAs and show high quality recording of electrophysiological signals. We find that the combination of dropcasting poly-D-lysine (PDL, 50 µg/mL) and laminin (20 µg/mL) provide a vital adhesive support for E18 cortical rat neurons. This enables culture of these cells for more than 28 days which is followed by simultaneous multichannel recordings of spontaneous signals at 1 kHz with an average amplitude of 100 µV. Moreover, with the addition of bicuculline (50 µM) as a GABAA-antagonist during recording, bursts of action potentials are obtained similar to previously demonstrated results of Arnold et al[2]. It means that we have created the necessary cell-friendly environment for culture of such fragile primary neurons on state-of-the art MEAs. This work thereby paves the way towards a more diagnostic and eventually potentially therapeutic PEDOT:PSS platform to enable the study of neural electrophysiology and neuropathology.