ABSTRACT
The importance of ion homeostasis to the proper function of nervous tissue has been widely known and accepted for over a century. The early work of Sidney Ringer in the late 1800s showed the extracellular solution perfusing a frog heart must contain defi ned concentrations of sodium, potassium and calcium ions in order for the heart to beat normally (Hille 2001). Today, the cellular roles and mechanisms of entry of these ions are well established and applied to the development of pharmaceuticals targeting conditions such as anxiety, epilepsy and pain. Therefore, the development of novel biomaterials for the nervous system must consider the material interaction with the rudiments of cellular excitability-maintenance of membrane potential through ion channels. Quantum Dots (QD) (Tang et al. 2009), nanometals (Gramowski et al. 2010) and carbon nanomaterials (Cellot et al. 2008) have all been shown to alter neural network activity. This chapter summarizes the available literature regarding the interactions of nanomaterials with VGICs and postulates potential mechanisms underlying these effects.
