Development of artificial synapse organizers liganded with a peptide tag for molecularly inducible neuron-microelectrode interface.

It has been proposed that cell-type-specific bioelectronic interfaces for neuronal circuits could be established by utilizing the function of synapse organizers. For this purpose, using neurexin-1β and a peptide tag, we engineered compact synapse organizers that do not interact with the naturally occurring receptors but induce presynaptic differentiation upon contact with nanobody-decorated objects in cultured mammalian and chick forebrain neurons. In chick neurons, the engineered organizer exerted synaptogenesis typically in ∼4 h after the contact, even under an air atmosphere at room temperature, thereby providing a useful cellular model for establishing the molecularly inducible neuron-microelectrode interface.
Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper.
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