Artificial Differentiation of Hippocampal Neurons by Electrical Stimulation on Graphene Electrode

Electrical stimulation therapy is a promising method for treating neurological diseases. This method induces the activity and differentiation of nerve cells by the direct or indirect transmission of an electrical signal through biomedical electrodes. We demonstrated the efficacy of a graphene sheet as a bioelectrode to differentiate neurites from hippocampal neuron, through electrical stimulation. In order to the artificially induce the differentiation of hippocampal neurons, we directly transmitted electrical signals of square pulse through the graphene electrode to directly stimulate neurons cultured onto graphene surface. Compared to cell culture plates, the average length of differentiated neurites increased 111.1% on pristine graphene with electrical stimulation. And the average number of differentiated neurites on a single cell increased to 281.9% on oxygenated graphene with electrical stimulation. Electrical stimulation with graphene electrodes promoted the differentiation of neurites and activated the production of intercellular networks of hippocampal neurons.