Artificially grown neuronal cultures of brain cells have been used for decades in the attempt to reproduce and study in vitro the complexity of brain circuits. It soon became evident that this alone was insufficient, due to the random architecture of these artificial networks. Important groundwork resulted therefore in the development of methods to confine neuronal adhesion at specific locations to match
predefined network topologies and connectivity. Despite this notable progress in neural circuitry engineering, there is still need for micropatterned substrates that recapitulate better biophysical cues of
the neuronal microenvironment, taking into account recent findings of their significance for neuronal differentiation and functioning.
Here we report the development and characterization of a novel approach that; by using supersonic cluster beam deposition of zirconia nanoparticles, allows the patterning of small nanostructured cell-adhesive areas according to predefined geometries onto elsewhere non-adhesive antifouling glass surfaces. As distinguishing features, compared to other micropatterning approaches in this context, the
integrated nanostructured surfaces possess extracellular matrix-like nanotopographies of predetermined roughness; previously shown to be able to promote neuronal differentiation due to their impact on
mechanotransductive processes, and can be used in their original state without any coating requirements.
These micropatterned substrates were validated using: i) a neuron-like PC12 cell line; ii) primary cultures of rat hippocampal neurons. After initial uniform plating, both neuronal cells types were found to converge and adhere specifically to the nanostructured regions. The cell-adhesive areas effectively confined cells, even when these were highly mobile and repeatedly attempted to cross boundaries. Inside these small permissive islands, cells grew and differentiated; in case of the hippocampal neurons up to the formation of mature, functionally active and highly connected synaptic networks. In addition, when spontaneous instances of axon bridging between nearby dots occurred, a functional inter-dot communication between these subgroups of cells was observed.