Department of Energy Science, Department of Physics, Sungkyunkwan Advanced Institute of Nanotechnology, Sungkyunkwan University, Suwon 440-746, South Korea.
Biomaterials. 2011 Jan;32(1):19-27. doi: 10.1016/j.biomaterials.2010.08.095. Epub 2010 Sep 28.
Electric field stimulation has become one of the most promising therapies for a variety of neurological diseases. However, the safety and effectiveness of the stimulator are critical in determining the outcome. Because there are few safe and effective in vivo and/or in vitro stimulator devices, we demonstrate a method that allows for non-contact electric field stimulation with a specific strength that is able to control cell-to-cell interaction in vitro. Graphene, a form of graphite, and polyethylene terephthalate (PET) was used to create a non-cytotoxic in vitro graphene/PET film stimulator. A transient non-contact electric field was produced by charge-balanced biphasic stimuli through the graphene/PET film electrodes and applied to cultured neural cells. We found that weak electric field stimulation (pulse duration of 10 s) as low as 4.5 mV/mm for 32 min was particularly effective in shaping cell-to-cell interaction. Under weak electric field stimulation, we observed a significant increase in the number of cells forming new cell-to-cell couplings and in the number of cells strengthening existing cell-to-cell couplings. The underlying mechanism of the altered cellular interactions may be related to an altered regulation of the endogenous cytoskeletal proteins fibronectin, actin, and vinculin. In conclusion, this technique may open a new therapeutic approach for augmenting cell-to-cell coupling in cell transplantation therapy in the central nervous system.
电场刺激已成为治疗多种神经疾病最有前途的疗法之一。然而，刺激器的安全性和有效性对于确定治疗效果至关重要。由于目前体内和/或体外的刺激器设备安全且有效的较少，我们展示了一种能够实现非接触式电场刺激的方法，其具有特定的强度，能够控制体外细胞间的相互作用。石墨烯是石墨的一种形式，聚对苯二甲酸乙二醇酯（PET）用于制造非细胞毒性的体外石墨烯/PET 薄膜刺激器。通过石墨烯/PET 薄膜电极产生平衡电荷的双相刺激，产生瞬态非接触电场，并施加到培养的神经细胞上。我们发现，弱电场刺激（脉冲持续时间为 10 秒）低至 4.5 mV/mm，持续 32 分钟，对塑造细胞间相互作用特别有效。在弱电场刺激下，我们观察到形成新细胞间连接的细胞数量和增强现有细胞间连接的细胞数量显著增加。细胞间相互作用改变的潜在机制可能与内源性细胞骨架蛋白纤维连接蛋白、肌动蛋白和 vinculin 的调节改变有关。总之，该技术可能为增强中枢神经系统细胞移植治疗中的细胞间偶联开辟新的治疗方法。
