Graphene Nanoplatelets Render Poly(3-Hydroxybutyrate) a Suitable Scaffold to Promote Neuronal Network Development Moschetta, Matteo Bramini, Mattia Poly(3-hydroxybutyrate) Graphene Scaffold Primary neurons Polyhydroxyalkanoates Neural interface Funding This work was supported by the Ministero degli Affari Esteri e Cooperazione Internazionale of Italy (FarnesinaMAECI) under Grant Agreement No. MAE0057294 and the Agencia Estatal de Investigacion (RYC2019-027692-I/AEI/10.13039/501100011033) and Fondo Social Europeo. MB acknowledges the European Unions Horizon 2020 under the Marie Sklodowska-Curie Action-COFUND Athenea3i Grant Agreement No. 754446. The use of composite biomaterials as innovative bio-friendly neuronal interfaces has been poorly developed so far. Smart strategies to target neuro-pathologies are currently exploiting the mixed and complementary characteristics of composite materials to better design future neural interfaces. Here we present a polymer-based scaffold that has been rendered suitable for primary neurons by embedding graphene nanoplatelets (GnP). In particular, the growth, network formation, and functionality of primary neurons on poly(3-hydroxybutyrate) [P(3HB)] polymer supports functionalized with various concentrations of GnP were explored. After growing primary cortical neurons onto the supports for 14 days, all specimens were found to be biocompatible, revealing physiological growth and maturation of the neuronal network. When network functionality was investigated by whole patch-clamp measurements, pure P(3HB) led to changes in the action potential waveform and reduction in firing frequency, resulting in decreased neuronal excitability. However, the addition of GnP to the polymer matrix restored the electrophysiological parameters to physiological values. Interestingly, a low concentration of graphene was able to promote firing activity at a low level of injected current. The results indicate that the P(3HB)/GnP composites show great potential for electrical interfacing with primary neurons to eventually target central nervous system disorders. 2021-11-09T13:12:50Z 2021-11-09T13:12:50Z 2021-09-20 info:eu-repo/semantics/article Moschetta M, Chiacchiaretta M, Cesca F, Roy I, Athanassiou A, Benfenati F, Papadopoulou EL and Bramini M (2021) Graphene Nanoplatelets Render Poly(3-Hydroxybutyrate) a Suitable Scaffold to Promote Neuronal Network Development. Front. Neurosci. 15:731198. [doi: 10.3389/fnins.2021.731198] http://hdl.handle.net/10481/71393 10.3389/fnins.2021.731198 eng http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/es/ info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess Atribución 3.0 España Frontiers Media