Fabrication of PLGA nanofibers on PDMS micropillars for neuron culture studies

•A novel substrate was fabricated via electrospun nanofibers on elastomeric micropillars for the formation of neural networks.•Neurons/glial cells on the microarrays are functional and respond to pharmacological stimulations in the physiological way.•Nanofibers provides additional mechanical and morphological features that modify the electrical activity of the network.

We fabricated a nanocomposite substrate made of nanofibers on micropillar arrays by photolithography, soft lithography and electrospinning for cell culture studies. This nanocomposite substrate combines the advantage of the extra-cellular matrix (ECM)-like surface morphology and high porosity and low stiffness of underneath supporting material. For neuronal culture studies, we used nanofibers of poly (lactic-co-glycolic acid) (PLGA) on high aspect ratio micropillars of polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS). Our results showed that primary hippocampal neurons on such a nanocomposite substrate have different cell morphology than on flat surfaces and they showed more electric activities. Thus, the nanofiber-micropillar composite substrates were shown to be useful for neuron culture studies.

Graphical abstractDownload high-res image (176KB)Download full-size image