Toward Intelligent Synthetic Neural Circuits: Directing and

ARTICLE

Toward Intelligent Synthetic Neural Circuits: Directing and Accelerating Neuron Cell Growth by Self-Rolled-Up Silicon Nitride Microtube Array Paul Froeter,†,r Yu Huang,^,#,r Olivia V. Cangellaris,‡ Wen Huang,† Erik W. Dent,z Martha U. Gillette,‡,§ Justin C. Williams,*,^ and Xiuling Li*,† †

Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, Micro and Nanotechnology Laboratory, ‡Department of Bioengineering, and §Department of Cell and Developmental Biology, University of Illinois at UrbanaChampaign, Urbana, Illinois 61801, United States, ^Department of Biomedical Engineering, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, Wisconsin 53706, United States, and zDepartment of Neuroscience, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, Wisconsin 53705, United States. rThese authors contributed equally to this work. #Present address: Department of Nanomedicine and Biomedical Engineering, Houston Methodist Hospital Research Institute, Texas Medical Center, Houston, Texas 77030.

ABSTRACT In neural interface platforms, cultures are often carried out on a

flat, open, rigid, and opaque substrate, posing challenges to reflecting the native microenvironment of the brain and precise engagement with neurons. Here we present a neuron cell culturing platform that consists of arrays of ordered microtubes (2.74.4 μm in diameter), formed by strain-induced self-rolled-up nanomembrane (s-RUM) technology using ultrathin (