The culture of neurons on silicon

We have investigated the adherence and subsequent viability of rat neuronal (B50) cells cultured directly on the nanostructured semiconductors porous silicon (PS), PECVD polycrystalline silicon and bulk silicon wafers. In contrast to our previous work on culturing CHO cells on nanostructured silicon, where the cell count was greatest on nanocrystalline PECVD Si (nc-Si) substrates, with B50 cells the optimum surface was PS, with much reduced cell viability observed for cells cultured on bulk or nc-Si. These preliminary studies indicate that PS and nc-Si offer advantages over bulk Si surfaces for neuron cell adherence and viability since they do not require coating with substances such as polylysine to support cell growth, PS is light-addressable, and nanostructured coatings can be applied to most object shapes, allowing flexibility in their deployment.