PPy/SWCNTs-modified microelectrode array for learning and memory model construction through electrical stimulation and detection of in vitro hippocampal neuronal network

Yang, Y. et al. (2023) PPy/SWCNTs-modified microelectrode array for learning and memory model construction through electrical stimulation and detection of in vitro hippocampal neuronal network. ACS Applied Bio Materials, 6(9), pp. 3414-3422. (doi: 10.1021/acsabm.3c00105) (PMID:37071831)

Abstract

The learning and memory functions of the brain remain unclear, which are in urgent need for the detection of both a single cell signal with high spatiotemporal resolution and network activities with high throughput. Here, an in vitro microelectrode array (MEA) was fabricated and further modified with polypyrrole/carboxylated single-walled carbon nanotubes (PPy/SWCNTs) nanocomposites as the interface between biological and electronic systems. The deposition of the nanocomposites significantly improved the performance of microelectrodes including low impedance (60.3 ± 28.8 k Ω), small phase delay (−32.8 ± 4.4°), and good biocompatibility. Then the modified MEA was used to apply learning training and test on hippocampal neuronal network cultured for 21 days through electrical stimulation, and multichannel electrophysiological signals were recorded simultaneously. During the process of learning training, the stimulus/response ratio of the hippocampal learning population gradually increased and the response time gradually decreased. After training, the mean spikes in burst, number of bursts, and mean burst duration increased by 53%, 191%, and 52%, respectively, and the correlation of neurons in the network was significantly enhanced from 0.45 ± 0.002 to 0.78 ± 0.002. In addition, the neuronal network basically retained these characteristics for at least 5 h. These results indicated that we have successfully constructed a learning and memory model of hippocampal neurons on the in vitro MEA, contributing to understanding learning and memory based on synaptic plasticity. The proposed PPy/SWCNTs-modified in vitro MEA will provide a promising platform for the exploration of learning and memory mechanism and their applications in vitro.

• Item Type: Articles
• Additional Information: This work was sponsored by the Frontier Interdiscipline Project of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (No. XK2022XXC003), National Natural Science Foundation of China (No. L2224042, 61960206012, 62121003, T2293731, 62171434, 61975206, 61971400, and 61973292), the National Key Research and Development Program of China (No. 2022YFC2402501, 2022YFB3205602), Major Program of Scientific and Technical Innovation 2030 (No. 2021ZD02016030), and the Scientific Instrument Developing Project of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (No. GJJSTD20210004).
• Keywords: Microelectrode array, learning and memory, cultured hippocampal network, PPy/SWCNTs, electrical stimulation.
• Status: Published
• Refereed: Yes
• Glasgow Author(s) Enlighten ID: Yin, Professor Huabing
• Authors: Yang, Y., Deng, Y., Xu, S., Liu, Y., Liang, W., Zhang, K., Lv, S., Sha, L., Yin, H., Wu, Y., Luo, J., Xu, Q., and Cai, X.
• College/School: College of Science and Engineering > School of Engineering > Biomedical Engineering
• Journal Name: ACS Applied Bio Materials
• Publisher: American Chemical Society
• ISSN: 2576-6422
• ISSN (Online): 2576-6422
• Published Online: 18 April 2023
• Copyright Holders: Copyright © 2023 American Chemical Society
• First Published: First published in ACS Applied Bio Materials 6(9):3414–3422
• Publisher Policy: Reproduced in accordance with the copyright policy of the publisher