Comparison of fractal and grid electrodes for studying the effects of spatial confinement on dissociated retinal neuronal and glial behavior
Loading...
Date
2022-10-20
Authors
Moslehi, Saba
Rowland, Conor
Smith, Julian H.
Griffiths, Willem
Watterson, William J.
Niell, Cristopher M.
Alemán, Benjamín J.
Perez, Maria-Thereza
Taylor, Richard P.
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
Nature
Abstract
Understanding the impact of the geometry and material composition of electrodes on the survival
and behavior of retinal cells is of importance for both fundamental cell studies and neuromodulation
applications. We investigate how dissociated retinal cells from C57BL/6J mice interact with electrodes
made of vertically-aligned carbon nanotubes grown on silicon dioxide substrates. We compare
electrodes with different degrees of spatial confinement, specifically fractal and grid electrodes
featuring connected and disconnected gaps between the electrodes, respectively. For both electrodes,
we find that neuron processes predominantly accumulate on the electrode rather than the gap
surfaces and that this behavior is strongest for the grid electrodes. However, the ‘closed’ character of
the grid electrode gaps inhibits glia from covering the gap surfaces. This lack of glial coverage for the
grids is expected to have long-term detrimental effects on neuronal survival and electrical activity. In
contrast, the interconnected gaps within the fractal electrodes promote glial coverage. We describe
the differing cell responses to the two electrodes and hypothesize that there is an optimal geometry
that maximizes the positive response of both neurons and glia when interacting with electrodes.
Description
18 pages
Keywords
Gliogenesis, Tissue engineering
Citation
Moslehi, S., Rowland, C., Smith, J.H. et al. Comparison of fractal and grid electrodes for studying the effects of spatial confinement on dissociated retinal neuronal and glial behavior. Sci Rep 12, 17513 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-022-21742-y