Neurotransmitter analog tethered to a silicon platform for neuro-BioMEMS applications

Biotechnol Bioeng. 2004 Sep 5;87(5):669-74. doi: 10.1002/bit.20171.

Abstract

The design of chemically well-defined, machinable surfaces containing neuroactive molecules offers potential for fundamental neuroscience and clinical neural engineering applications. Here we report the assembly and characterization of silicon platforms containing a tethered form of muscimol. Muscimol, an analog of the inhibitory neurotransmitter gamma-aminobutyric acid (GABA), is a potent agonist at postsynaptic GABA(A) and GABA(C) receptors. Surfaces were assembled using covalent avidin conjugation to silanized silicon followed by high-affinity avidin-biotin binding of a biotinylated derivative of muscimol (muscimol-biotin). Contact angle measurements, ellipsometry, and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) were conducted to characterize the wettability, thickness, and chemical composition of progressively deposited surface layers. The data demonstrate successful incorporation of a neurotransmitter analog as part of a layered, silicon-based structure possessing robust and specific biomolecular composition. These findings represent a step toward the design of platforms for applications involving control and modulation of neural signaling.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't
  • Research Support, U.S. Gov't, P.H.S.

MeSH terms

  • Avidin / chemistry
  • Biotin / chemistry
  • Biotinylation
  • Molecular Structure
  • Muscimol / chemistry
  • Silicon / chemistry*
  • Spectrum Analysis
  • Surface Properties
  • Wettability
  • gamma-Aminobutyric Acid / analogs & derivatives*
  • gamma-Aminobutyric Acid / chemistry

Substances

  • Avidin
  • Muscimol
  • gamma-Aminobutyric Acid
  • Biotin
  • Silicon