Aligned microcontact printing of micrometer-scale poly-L-Lysine structures for controlled growth of cultured neurons on planar microelectrode arrays

We describe a method for producing high-resolution chemical patterns on surfaces to control the attachment and growth of cultured neurons. Microcontact printing has been extended to allow the printing of /spl mu/m-scale protein lines aligned to an underlying pattern of planar microelectrodes. Poly-L-lysine (PL) lines have been printed on the electrode array for electrical studies on cultured neural networks. Rat hippocampal neurons showed degree of attachment selectivity to the PL and produced neurites that faithfully grew onto the electrode recording sites.