Tuning Surface and Topographical Features to Investigate Competitive Guidance of Spiral Ganglion Neurons.

ABSTRACT: Cochlear Implants (CIs) suffer from limited tonal resolution due, in large part, to spatial separation between stimulating electrode arrays and primary neural receptors. In this work, a combination of physical and chemical micropatterns, formed on acrylate polymers, are used to direct the growth of primary spiral ganglion neurons (SGNs), the inner ear neurons. Utilizing the inherent temporal and spatial control of photopolymerization, physical microgrooves are fabricated using a photomask in a single step process. Biochemical patterns are generated by adsorbing laminin, a cell adhesion protein, to acrylate polymer surfaces followed by irradiation through a photomask with UV light to deactivate protein in exposed areas and generate parallel biochemical patterns. Laminin deactivation was sho

SUBMITTER: Leigh BL 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6341486 | biostudies-literature | 2017 Sep

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature