title: Carbon nanotubes might improve neuronal performance by favouring electrical shortcuts.
abstract: Carbon nanotubes have been applied in several areas of nerve tissue engineering to probe and augment cell behaviour, to label and track subcellular components, and to study the growth and organization of neural networks. Recent reports show that nanotubes can sustain and promote neuronal electrical activity in networks of cultured cells, but the ways in which they affect cellular function are still poorly understood. Here, we show, using single-cell electrophysiology techniques, electron microscopy analysis and theoretical modelling, that nanotubes improve the responsiveness of neurons by forming tight contacts with the cell membranes that might favour electrical shortcuts between the proximal and distal compartments of the neuron. We propose the 'electrotonic hypothesis' to explain the physical interactions between the cell and nanotube, and the mechanisms of how carbon nanotubes might affect the collective electrical activity of cultured neuronal networks. These considerations offer a perspective that would allow us to predict or engineer interactions between neurons and carbon nanotubes.
authors.affiliation: Life Science Department, B.R.A.I.N., University of Trieste, via Fleming 22, I-34127, Trieste, Italy.
authors.forename: Giada
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Cellot
authors.forename: Emanuele
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Cilia
authors.forename: Sara
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Cipollone
authors.forename: Vladimir
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Rancic
authors.forename: Antonella
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Sucapane
authors.forename: Silvia
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Giordani
authors.forename: Luca
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Gambazzi
authors.forename: Henry
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Markram
authors.forename: Micaela
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Grandolfo
authors.forename: Denis
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Scaini
authors.forename: Fabrizio
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Gelain
authors.forename: Loredana
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Casalis
authors.forename: Maurizio
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Prato
authors.forename: Michele
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Giugliano
authors.forename: Laura
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Ballerini
mesh_terms: D000200:Action Potentials; D000818:Animals; D001672:Biocompatible Materials / Q000737:chemistry; D002448:Cell Adhesion; D002478:Cells, Cultured; D025802:Electric Capacitance; D004558:Electric Stimulation / Q000295:instrumentation / Q000379:methods; D008855:Microscopy, Electron, Scanning; D036103:Nanotechnology / Q000295:instrumentation* / Q000379:methods; D037742:Nanotubes, Carbon / Q000737:chemistry*; D009431:Neural Conduction; D009474:Neurons / Q000502:physiology*; D018408:Patch-Clamp Techniques; D051381:Rats; D054457:Tissue Scaffolds / Q000737:chemistry
chemical_list: D001672:Biocompatible Materials; D037742:Nanotubes, Carbon