Abstract
Type-specificity of synapses, excitatory and inhibitory, regulates information process in neural networks via chemical neurotransmitters. To lay a foundation of synapse-based neural interfaces, artificial dendrites are generated by covering abiotic substrata with ectodomains of type-specific synaptogenic proteins that are C-terminally tagged with biotinylated fluorescent proteins. The excitatory artificial synapses displaying engineered ectodomains of postsynaptic neuroligin-1 (NL1) induce the formation of excitatory presynapses with mixed culture of neurons in various developmental stages, while the inhibitory artificial dendrites displaying engineered NL2 and Slitrk3 induce inhibitory presynapses only with mature neurons. By contrast, if the artificial dendrites are applied to the axonal components of micropatterned neurons, correctly-matched synaptic specificity emerges regardless of the neuronal developmental stages. The hemisynapses retain their initially established type-specificity during neuronal development and maintain their synaptic strength provided live neurons, implying the possibility of durable synapse-based biointerfaces.
Highlights
Type-specificity of synapses, excitatory and inhibitory, regulates information process in neural networks via chemical neurotransmitters
If the artificial dendrites are applied to the axonal components of micropatterned neurons, correctly-matched synaptic specificity emerges regardless of the neuronal developmental stages
We found that in random culture of hippocampal neurons the artificial dendrites can form correctly-matched hemisynapses with fully developed neurons, whereas with immature neurons only excitatory hemisynapses
Summary
Eun Joong Kim1*, Chang Su Jeon1*, Soo Youn Lee[1], Inseong Hwang1 & Taek Dong Chung[1,2] received: 11 January 2016 accepted: 22 March 2016. If the artificial dendrites are applied to the axonal components of micropatterned neurons, correctly-matched synaptic specificity emerges regardless of the neuronal developmental stages. The hemisynapses retain their initially established type-specificity during neuronal development and maintain their synaptic strength provided live neurons, implying the possibility of durable synapse-based biointerfaces. We reconstituted durable inhibitory and excitatory hemisynapses with spatiotemporal regulation using type-specific artificial dendrites that display modularly-tagged ectodomains of postsynaptic CAMs, such as NL1, NL2, and Slitrk[3]. The synaptic strength and the type-specificity of the hemisynapses, once established, remained unchanged as long as live cells are provided
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