The Effect of Silver Nanoparticles on the Electrical Activity of PC12 Quasi-Neuronal Networks and the Comparison of Two Microelectrode Array-Based Neural Signal Analysis Methods

Abstract

Our research group previously proposed the voltage thresholdmeasurement method (VTMM) based on the microelectrode array (MEA), and used VTMM to prove that PC12 cells, as a simpler cell culture, can be used as an alternative cell model to examine the effects of external factors on cytotoxicity and electrical excitability of neurons. However, there is no comparison between VTMM and the commonly used MEA neural signal analysis method, and no researchers have used the commonly used analysis method to study the spontaneous electrical signals of PC12 quasi-neuronal networks. This research aims to compare the characteristics and results of two MEA-based neural signal analysis methods. For the first time, the changes in spike frequency of the PC12 networks after exposure to various concentrations of silver nanoparticles for different durations was studied by means of MEA analysis method. It is found that due to the low intensity of spontaneous activity of PC12 networks, the commonly used analysis method is not suitable for the study of electrical activity of PC12 networks. Under the action of silver nanoparticles, the results of VTMM are consistent with those of the commonly used MEA analysis method, and VTMM has the advantages of being suitable for more kinds of neuron networks, short culture time, concise and rapid data analysis.