Estimating the effects of nanoparticles on neuronal field potentials based on their effects on single neurons in vitro

Abstract

The application of nanoparticles in medicine requires a rigorous examination of their safety in order to determine and predict their benefits and potential side effects. The aim of this study was to examine in vitro effects of coated silver-nanoparticles (cAg-NPs) on the excitability of single neuronal cells and to integrate those findings into an in silico model to predict their effects on neuronal circuits and finally on field potentials generated by those circuits. As a first step, patch-clamp experiments were performed on single cells to investigate the effects of nano-sized silver particles surrounded by an organic coating. The parameters that were altered by exposure to those nanoparticles were then determined through using the Hodgkin & Huxley model of the sodium current. As a next step, to predict possible changes in network signaling due to the applied cAg-NPs, those findings were integrated into a well-defined neuronal circuit of thalamocortical interactions in silico. The model was then extended to observe neural fields originating from activity of neurons exhibiting Hodgkin & Huxley type action potentials. As a last step, the loop between field potentials and its generators was closed to investigate how the neural field potentials influence the spike generation in neurons that are physically located within these fields, if this feedback causes relevant changes in the underlying neuronal signaling within the circuit, and most importantly if the cAg-NPs effects on single neurons of the network are strong enough to cause observable changes in the generated field potentials themselves.