Conducting polymer nanowires for neural modulation

 描述(由申请者提供)：了解人们如何思考、行为和感觉，最终需要了解神经回路如何在空间和时间上相互作用。这一级别 理解需要高通量、直接和非侵入性的全新工具。目前的方法不能同时满足所有这些要求。理想的工具是在不损害周围组织的情况下，直接接触到数以万计的单个神经元。由金属、硅和碳纤维制成的电极相对坚硬易碎，这使得它们天生就是生物不相容的。利用电聚合法，我们已经制备了直径为500 nm的导电聚合物纳米线，其杨氏模数为&lt；1 Gpa，比目前最先进的碳纤维电极的弹性大两个数量级。最近的研究表明，弹性材料的杨氏模数与组织相似，对于植入设备的长期成功至关重要。我们预计，与目前的电极相比，导电聚合物纳米线与大脑的弹性更匹配，将显著改善与神经组织的兼容性。我们的目标是产生绝缘的导电聚合物纳米线，并将这些纳米线连接到单个细胞上，以控制去极化。初步研究已经产生了直径为500 nm、长度从800 nm到10 mm的导电聚合物纳米线。然而，细胞测量和调制需要绝缘的纳米线。在目标1中，我们将产生用硼硅酸盐绝缘的纳米线。AIM 2将用白蛋白使纳米线功能化，通过细胞表面的白蛋白受体将纳米线连接到单个细胞上。未来的研究将集中在特定用途分子的共价连接上。AIM 3将使用单独的纳米线来控制细胞的膜电位。虽然R21仅限于构建用于蜂窝级别的原型设备，但我们的长期目标是工作 与合作者一起将这一工具扩展到行为动物。我们最初的研究重点是神经调节。在未来，同样的纳米线可以被功能化，用于测量和调制。在单个细胞水平上跟踪清醒、活跃的动物的神经活动的能力 除了生物兼容性外，还需要体积更小、产量更高的新工具。这项研究将开发一种全新的纳米级工具，用于在单细胞水平上进行神经测量和调制。

 DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): Understanding how people think, act, and feel ultimately requires understanding how neural circuits interact spatially and temporally. This level of understanding requires fundamentally new tools that are high-throughput, direct, and non-invasive. Current methods are unable to satisfy all of these requirements simultaneously. An ideal tool would provide direct access to tens of thousands of individual neurons while not damaging the surrounding tissue. Electrodes made from metals, silicon, and carbon fibers are relatively hard and brittle making them inherently bio-incompatible. Using electropolymerization, we have produced <500 nm diameter conducting polymer nanowires with a Young's modulus of <1 GPa, two orders of magnitude more elastic than current state-of-the-art carbon fiber electrodes. Recent work has shown that elastic materials, with a Young's modulus similar to that of tissue, are essential for the long term success of implanted devices. We expect that conducting polymer nanowires, better matched to the elasticity of the brain, will provide significantly improved compatibility with neural tissue compared to current electrodes. Our goal is to generate insulated conducting polymer nanowires and attach these nanowires to individual cells for controlled depolarization. Preliminary research has generated conducting polymer nanowires with diameters of <500 nm and lengths ranging from 800 nm to 10 mm. However, cellular measurement and modulation requires an insulated nanowire. Within Aim 1 we will generate nanowires insulated with borosilicate. Aim 2 will functionalize the nanowires with albumin to attach the nanowires to individual cells via albumin receptors on the cell surface. Future research will focus on covalent attachment of application-specific molecules. Aim 3 will use individual nanowires to control the membrane potential of cells. While this R21 is limited to the construction of a prototype device for use on the cellular level, our long-term goal is to work with collaborators to extend this tool to behaving animals. Our initial studies focus on neural modulation. In the future, the same nanowires can be functionalized for measurement as well as modulation. The ability to track neural activity in awake, active, animals at the single cell level requires new tools that are both smaller and higher- throughput, in addition to biocompatible. This research will develop an entirely new nano-scale tool for neural measurement and modulation on a single cell level.