Lithium niobate nanoparticles as biofunctional interface material for inner ear devices
Lithium niobate nanoparticles as biofunctional interface material for inner ear devices
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DOI：
10.1116/6.0000067
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发表时间：
2020-05-01
期刊：
影响因子：
2.1
通讯作者：
Berrettini, Stefano
中科院分区：
文献类型：
--
作者：
Danti, Serena;Azimi, Bahareh;Berrettini, Stefano
感音神经性听力损失（SNHL）影响内耳室，可由不同因素引起。通常，负责机械信号转换为电信号的感觉细胞的缺乏、死亡或功能障碍导致SNHL。迄今为止，严重或深度SNHL受损患者的治疗选择是人工耳蜗植入物（CI），这是一种取代整个耳蜗功能的高科技电子设备。压电材料通过简单地模仿耳蜗感觉上皮的功能来催化注意力以刺激听觉神经元。在这项研究中，作者研究了铌酸锂（LiNbO 3）作为下一代CI的潜在候选材料。LiNbO 3纳米颗粒与内耳细胞体外耳相容，具有明显的免疫调节活性，增强上皮细胞中人β-防御素的表达，对铜绿假单胞菌具有直接的抗菌活性。此外，铌酸锂纳米粒子被纳入到聚（偏氟乙烯-三氟乙烯）纤维通过静电纺丝，这增强了压电响应。最后，所得到的纤维复合结构在体外支持人类神经样细胞生长，从而显示出用于新的内耳装置的有前途的功能。
Sensorineural hearing loss (SNHL) affects the inner ear compartment and can be caused by different factors. Usually, the lack, death, or malfunction of sensory cells deputed to transduction of mechanic-into-electric signals leads to SNHL. To date, the therapeutic option for patients impaired by severe or profound SNHL is the cochlear implant (CI), a high-tech electronic device replacing the entire cochlear function. Piezoelectric materials have catalyzed attention to stimulate the auditory neurons by simply mimicking the function of the cochlear sensory epithelium. In this study, the authors investigated lithium niobate (LiNbO3) as a potential candidate material for next generation CIs. LiNbO3 nanoparticles resulted otocompatible with inner ear cells in vitro, had a pronounced immunomodulatory activity, enhanced human beta-defensin in epithelial cells, and showed direct antibacterial activity against P. aeruginosa. Moreover, LiNbO3 nanoparticles were incorporated into poly(vinylidene fluoride-trifluoro ethylene) fibers via electrospinning, which enhanced the piezoelectric response. Finally, the resulting fibrous composite structures support human neural-like cell growth in vitro, thus showing promising features to be used in new inner ear devices.