Studies of Single Neuron Cell Growth on Nanoporous Surface and under Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation

This paper reports the behaviors of neuron cell N27 growth on nanostructured surface and under transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) at single cell level for the first time. First, the growth of neuron cell N27 on anodic aluminum oxide (AAO) nanoporous surface has been studied. It has been found the cells show much preference to grow on the nanostructured surface over the flat coverslip glass surface. Second, the sizes of cells grown on AAO nanoporous surface with TMS and without TMS have been studied. It has been found the sizes of cells with TMS are statistically smaller than those without TMS in the same period of time, indicating the TMS might speed up the cell division. To verify this observation, the growth of single N27 cells inside SU8 microholders with and without TMS has been investigated. It has been found that up to 17% more daughter cells can be divided when the cells are subjected to TMS compared to those without TMS. All these results suggest the TMS can contribute to the growth of N27 cells, benefiting the neuron regeneration.