Hippocampal Neurons' Alignment on Quartz Grooves and Parylene Cues on Quartz Substrate

Alignment and patterning of neurons have great importance in some research fields, especially for regenerative medicine and for the formation of artificial neural networks. Alignment of neurons on quartz grooves and parylene cues on quartz substrate was evaluated in this work. The neurons' alignment on quartz grooves is considered to be topographical alignment, while the neurons' alignment on parylene cues on quartz substrate is considered to be chemical alignment. Both quartz grooves' and parylene cues' widths were fabricated in a range from 2 mu m to 8 mu m; quartz grooves' heights were in a range from 0.25 mu m to 4 mu m, while parylene cues' heights were only 0.25 mu m. Neurons were dissociated hippocampal neurons from rat E18. Neurons were cultivated on test substrates for 7 days before alignment evaluation. As expected, neurons aligned according to the direction of grooves and cues; however, transversal growth direction was also observed with much smaller tendency. Chemical alignment was found to be more effective than topographical alignment. If parylene cues are thin and distanced enough, then neurons have a tendency to follow the direction of individual parylene cues; however, neurons on quartz grooves have a tendency just to follow a preferable direction than individual quartz grooves.

Automated summary

The alignment and patterning of neurons play a crucial role in regenerative medicine and artificial neural networks. This study evaluated the alignment of neurons on quartz grooves and parylene cues, finding that chemical alignment is more effective than topographical alignment. Neurons tend to align based on the direction of both quartz grooves and parylene cues, with some following a transversal growth direction.