Photoresist Derived Carbon for Growth and Differentiation of Neuronal Cells

Abstract: Apoptosis or necrosis of neurons in the central nervous system (CNS) is thehallmark of many neurodegenerative diseases and Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI). Theinability to regenerate in CNS offers little hope for naturally repairing the damagedneurons. However, with the rapid development of new technologies, regenerative medicineoffers great promises to patients with these disorders. Among many events for furtheradvancement of regenerative medicine, extracellular matrix (ECM) plays a critical role forcellular migration and differentiation. To develop a biocompatible and electricallyconductive substrate that can be potentially used to promote growth and regeneration ofneurons and to record intracellular and multisite signals from brain as a probe, a polymericprecursor – SPR 220.7 was fabricated by pyrolysis at temperatures higher than 700 oC.Human Neuroblastoma cells - SK-N-MC, SY5Y, mouse teratocarcinoma cells P-19 and ratPC12 cells were found to attach and proliferate on photoresist derived carbon film.Significantly, neuronal differentiation of PC12 cells induced by NGF was demonstrated byobserving cell shape and size, and measuring the length of neurites under SEM. Our resultsindicated that fabricated carbon could potentially be explored in regenerative medicine forpromoting neuronal growth and differentiation in CNS with neurodegeneration.