Speaker
Description
Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s diseases are progressive neurodegenerative disorders that currently have no cure. Deep brain stimulation (DBS), which delivers electrical signals to specific brain regions via implanted electrodes, has been used since the 1980s to alleviate symptoms. However, conventional metal electrodes often trigger inflammation, motivating the search for more biocompatible alternatives. Graphene-based materials have emerged as promising candidates due to their excellent electrical, mechanical, and potential biocompatibility properties.
Here, we present a comprehensive molecular dynamics study of the interactions between graphene derivatives and biologically relevant lipid membranes representing microglial cells, neurons, myelin sheaths, and commonly used in vitro cytotoxicity cell models. Our simulations reveal distinct interaction modes for GO and rGO, with surface oxidation playing a critical role in mediating membrane affinity, insertion depth, and disruption potential. Potential of mean force (PMF) calculations further quantify the energetics of membrane penetration, demonstrating that both the chemical nature of the graphene surface and the lipid composition of the target membrane significantly influence the interaction outcome.
These findings provide molecular-level insights into the design of graphene-based materials for neurointerfaces and establish key biophysical parameters for optimizing biocompatibility in future DBS electrode applications.
