Electrophysiological properties of dorsal root ganglion neurons cultured on 3D silicon micro-pillar substrates

Background: Silicon-based micro-pillar substrates (MPS), as three-dimensional cell culture platforms with vertically aligned micro-patterned scaffolding structures, are known to facilitate high-quality growth and morphology of dorsal root ganglion (DRG) sensory neurons, promote neurite outgrowth and enhance neurite alignment. However, the electrophysiological aspects of DRG neurons cultured on silicon MPSs have not been thoroughly investigated, which is of greatest importance to ensure that such substrates do not disrupt neuronal homeostasis and function before their widespread adoption in diverse biomedical applications.

New method: We conducted whole-cell patch-clamp recordings to explore the electrophysiological properties of DRG neurons cultured on MPS arrays, utilizing a custom-made upright patch-clamp setup.

Results: Our findings revealed that DRG neurons exhibited similar electrophysiological responses on patterned MPS samples when compared to the control planar glass surfaces. Notably, there were no significant differences observed in the action potential parameters or firing patterns of action potentials between neurons grown on either substrate.

Comparison with existing methods: In the current study we for the first time confirmed that successful electrophysiological recordings can be obtained from the cells grown on MPS.

Conclusion: Our results imply that, despite the potential alterations caused by the cumulative trauma of tissue harvest and cell dissociation, essential functional cell properties of DRG neurons appear to be relatively maintained on MPS surfaces. Therefore, vertically aligned silicon MPSs could be considered as a potentially effective three-dimensional system for supporting a controlled cellular environment in culture.