Naslov
The potential of hexagonal boron nitride (h-BN) based substrates for future auditory neuroelectronic interfaces

Autori
Žarković, Jelena ; Bedalov, Ana ; Delipetar, Boris ; Marjanović, Tihomir ; Blašković, Milan ; Garaj, Slaven ; Kovačić, Damir

Vrsta, podvrsta i kategorija rada
Sažeci sa skupova, sažetak, znanstveni

Skup
Interdisciplinary endeavour in technology at nanoscale, water and environment

Mjesto i datum
Split, Hrvatska, 09-11.10.2019

Vrsta sudjelovanja
Poster

Vrsta recenzije
Recenziran

Ključne riječi
Primary auditory neurons, Graphene, hBN

Sažetak
Hexagonal boron nitride (h-BN) substrates represent the basis for potential use in the future generation of neuroelectronic interfaces, which could ultimately enable the design of new neuroprosthetic devices, including cochlear implants and auditory brain-stem implants. h-BN is a two-dimensional material made of boron (B) and nitrogen (N) atoms, arranged in a planar, hexagonal, honeycomb lattice - similar to arrangement of atoms in the graphene lattice [1]. h-BN showed high potential in biomedical applications due to its stability, processability, parameter tunability, and biocompatibility. However, it is not known how h-BN interacts with spiral ganglion neurons (SGN), primary-like type of sensory neurons conveying fast spectro-temporal auditory information. In this study, single layer h-BN, previously coated with poly-L-ornithine and laminin, was used as a surface for invitro growth of neonatal SGN extracted from rat pups. The cultures were immunocytochemically stained at six and seven days in vitro (6DIV, 7DIV), and the subsequent fluorescence images were analyzed with the custom-made machine learning-based image processing allowing successful segmentation and classification of neurons. Neuronal cultures grown on single-layer h-BN were compared with those grown on a standard glass coverslip. Neurons were examined for various morphological properties, including cell density, neurite length, and cell dispersion as a measure of cellular clusterization. Our data shows that the density of SGN neurons grown on single layer h-BN is twice as high than for those grown on control glass coverslips. This effect is presumably due to a larger survival rate of cells on h-BN, coompated to the controll. On the other hand, length and aperture of segmented neurons were 1.5 times bigger in control, suggesting that neurons grew more extensive with longer neurites compared to neurons on h-BN, probably due to lower density in the control. Interestingly, cell bodies of SGN were significantly larger on h-BN than in the control. The number of endpoints and the number of nodes per neurons on average were equal on h-BN and the control indicating no substantial differences in the neuronal structure. These findings point out toward the possibility of using h-BN based type of substrates for neuroelectronic interfaces in the future.

Izvorni jezik
Engleski

Znanstvena područja
Biotehnologija u biomedicini (prirodno područje, biomedicina i zdravstvo, biotehničko područje)

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