Carbon Nanotubes: Artificial Nanomaterials to Engineer Single Neurons and Neuronal Networks

Abstract

In the past decade, nanotechnology applications to the nervous system have often involved the study and the use of novel nanomaterials to improve the diagnosis and therapy of neurological diseases. In the field of nanomedicine, carbon nanotubes are evaluated as promising materials for diverse therapeutic and diagnostic applications. Besides, carbon nanotubes are increasingly employed in basic neuroscience approaches, and they have been used in the design of neuronal interfaces or in that of scaffolds promoting neuronal growth in vitro. Ultimately, carbon nanotubes are thought to hold the potential for the development of innovative neurological implants. In this framework, it is particularly relevant to document the impact of interfacing such materials with nerve cells. Carbon nanotubes were shown, when modified with biologically active compounds or functionalized in order to alter their charge, to affect neurite outgrowth and branching. Notably, purified carbon nanotubes used as scaffolds can promote the formation of nanotube−neuron hybrid networks, able per se to affect neuron integrative abilities, network connectivity, and synaptic plasticity. We focus this review on our work over several years directed to investigate the ability of carbon nanotube platforms in providing a new tool for nongenetic manipulations of neuronal performance and network signaling. KEYWORDS: Carbon nanotubes, nanotechnology, cultured neuronal network, synapse, short-term plasticity, patch clamp recordingsThe discovery and manipulation of innovative nanomaterials, such as carbon nanotubes (CNTs), are becoming increasingly helpful in biomedical applications in general 1,2 and in neuroscience research approaches and developments in particular, thus providing new tools able to specifically interact with the nervous system and with neurons at the nanoscale. 3CNTs have been alternatively proposed as growth substrates promoting neuronal development, scaffolds for nerve tissue engineering, electrode coating, or neuronal interfaces for longterm implants.4−10 In their soluble form, CNTs are also promising nanovectors for drug delivery and molecular sensing applications. 11−13Since their discovery in 1991 by Ijima, 14 CNTs have shown outstanding mechanical, thermal, and conductive properties: these unique nanoobjects made of one or more rolled-up graphene sheets possess high surface area, high mechanical strength but ultralight weight, rich electronic properties, and excellent chemical and thermal stability. 15 These properties make CNTs very promising in different technological fields; in particular, CNTs were used as conductive composites, energy storage and energy conversion devices, sensors, field emission displays and radiation sources, hydrogen storage media and nanometer-sized semiconductor devices, probes, and interconnects (for a review, see ref 16). Their poor solubility and their apparently high toxicity have been faced in the past decade via functionalization of the CNT surface by means of many different approaches (Figure ...

A nanoporous surface is essential for glomerular podocyte differentiation in three-dimensional culture

“…1,2 For instance, cultured neurons have been tested on different nanosurfaces by several investigators. 3,4 Structured materials which facilitate dendrite development, adhesion, and signaling may promote better understanding of neuronal repair from pathological conditions and present novel therapeutic strategies. 5,6 Another example of the ramified cell is the glomerular podocyte.…”

The structural development of primary cultured hippocampal neurons on a graphene substrate

“…It can also be speculated that the high electrical conductivity of graphene is an important factor that can lead to better growth and maturation of hippocampal neurons. It is well reported that electrical stimuli play a pivotal role in the nervous system, and it has been shown that the electrical conductivity of carbon nanotubes promotes neuron growth [42,43]. Also, previous reports showed that two-dimensional graphene film can act as a transparent electrode to electrically stimulate cells [13].…”

Uncovering Cortical Modularity by Nanotechnology

“…Additionally, prostheses for monitoring brain activity were developed using interfaces based on nanotube architecture (Stankova et al 2014). Fabbro et al (2012) recently demonstrated the alteration of various hippocampal neurons responses by the CNTs substrates in cultures. This observation highlighted the exceptional ability of the CNTs substrate to interfere with nerve tissue growth; they confirmed the hypothesis that CNT scaffolds promote the development of immature neurons isolated from the neonatal rat spinal cord and maintained in vitro.…”

“…Development of future strategies for tissue repair in order to promote functional recovery after brain damage is one of the main aims of nanotech studies (Fabbro et al 2012). CNTs based technologies are emerging as particularly innovative tools due to their ability to interface neuronal circuits, synapses and membranes (Sakhtianchi et al 2013), as well as due to the outstanding physical properties of these nanomaterials.…”