Functional Neuroelectronic Interfaces Through Artificial Biomembranes

The interface between biological cells and non-biological materials has profound influences on cellular activities, chronic tissue responses, and ultimately the success of medical implants and bioelectronic devices. The optimal coupling between cells and materials is mainly based on surface interaction, electrical communication and sensing¹.<br/>In the last years, many efforts have been devoted to engineer materials to recapitulate both the environment (i.e., dimensionality, curvature, dynamicity)² and the functionalities (i.e., long and short term synaptic plasticity)³ of the neuronal tissue to ensure a better integration of the bioelectronic platform and cells. In this scenario, resembling also the composition of the neuronal membrane might be beneficial to reconstitute fluidity and proteins’ arrangement (i.e. synaptic receptors) to further optimize the communication between neuronal cells and <i>in vitro </i>bioelectronic platforms².<br/>Here, we explore how supported lipid bilayers(SLBs) can induce different fluidity at the interface and thus modulate the neuronal outgrowth from the polarity phase to synaptic formation. Moreover, those neuronal SLBs have been achieved also on 3D dendritic-like spines to further recapitulate the composition and the peculiar architecture present at synaptic level. Finally, we engineered organic neuromorphic devices with neuronal SLBs to achieve a biohybrid interface with tunable short term plasticity. In turn, this could represent a first step toward <i>in vitro </i>adaptive neurohybrid interfaces to engineering neuronal networks with biomimetic structural and functional connections at synaptic level.<br/><b>References</b><br/>1. Lubrano, C. <i>et al.</i> Towards biomimetic electronics that emulate cells. <i>MRS Commun.</i> <b>10</b>, 398–412 (2020).<br/>2. Mariano, A. <i>et al.</i> Advances in cell-conductive polymer biointerfaces and role of the plasma membrane (2021).<br/>3. Keene, S. T. A biohybrid synapse with neurotransmitter-mediated plasticity. <i>Nat. Mater.</i> <b>19</b>, 16 (2020).