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 con trast to our previous work on culturing CHO cells on nanostructured silicon , where the cell count was greatest on nanocrystalline PECVD Si (nc-Si) sub strates, with B50 cells the optimum surface was PS, with much reduced cell viability observed for cells cultured on bulk or nc-Si. These preliminary s tudies indicate that PS and nc-Si offer advantages over bulk Si surfaces fo r neuron cell adherence and viability since they do not require coating wit h substances such as polylysine to support cell growth, PS is light-address able, and nanostructured coatings can be applied to most object shapes, all owing flexibility in their deployment. (C) 1999 Elsevier Science S.A. All r ights reserved.