Related Experiment Video
Updated: Feb 12, 2026

Rapid Neuronal Differentiation of Induced Pluripotent Stem Cells for Measuring Network Activity on Micro-electrode Arrays
Published on: January 8, 2017
Biofunctionalized 3D Nanopillar Arrays Fostering Cell Guidance and Promoting Synapse Stability and Neuronal Activity
Abstract:
A controlled geometry of in vitro neuronal networks allows investigation of the cellular mechanisms that underlie neuron-to-neuron and neuron-extracellular matrix interactions, which are essential to biomedical research. Herein, we report a selective guidance of primary hippocampal neurons by using arrays of three-dimensional vertical nanopillars (NPs) functionalized with a specific adhesion-promoting molecule-poly-dl-ornithine (PDLO). We show that 90% of neuronal cells are guided exclusively on the combinatorial PDLO/NP substrate. Moreover, we demonstrate the influence of the interplay between nanostructures and neurons on synapse formation and maturation, resulting in increased expression of postsynaptic density-95 protein and enhanced network cellular activity conferred by the endogenous c-fos expression. Successful guidance to foster synapse stability and cellular activity on multilevel cues of surface topography and chemical functionalization suggests the potential to devise technologies to control neuronal growth on nanostructures for tissue engineering, neuroprostheses, and drug development.
Related Concept Videos
The Synapse
The Eukaryotic Promoter Region
RNA Stability
Protein Networks
These interactions can be represented through maps depicting protein-protein interaction networks, represented as nodes and edges. Nodes are circles that are representative of a protein,...
Nuclear Stability
To hold positively charged protons together...
Electrical Synapses
Gap junctions allow the current to pass directly from one cell to the next. In contrast, in the chemical synapse, the neurotransmitters carry the information through the synaptic cleft from one neuron to the next. They consist of two...

