Coupling of cells to biomaterials is a prerequisite for most biomedical applications;
e.g., neuroelectrodes can only stimulate brain tissue in vivo if the electric signal is transferred
to neurons attached to the electrodes’ surface. Besides, cell survival in vitro also depends on the
interaction of cells with the underlying substrate materials; in vitro assays such as multielectrode
arrays determine cellular behavior by electrical coupling to the adherent cells. In our study, we
investigated the interaction of neurons and glial cells with different electrode materials such as TiN
and nanocolumnar TiN surfaces in contrast to gold and ITO substrates. Employing single-cell force
spectroscopy, we quantified short-term interaction forces between neuron-like cells (SH-SY5Y cells)
and glial cells (U-87 MG cells) for the different materials and contact times. Additionally, results
were compared to the spreading dynamics of cells for different culture times as a function of the
underlying substrate. The adhesion behavior of glial cells was almost independent of the biomaterial
and the maximum growth areas were already seen after one day; however, adhesion dynamics of
neurons relied on culture material and time. Neurons spread much better on TiN and nanocolumnar
TiN and also formed more neurites after three days in culture. Our designed nanocolumnar TiN
offers the possibility for building miniaturized microelectrode arrays for impedance spectroscopy
without losing detection sensitivity due to a lowered self-impedance of the electrode. Hence, our
results show that this biomaterial promotes adhesion and spreading of neurons and glial cells, which
are important for many biomedical applications in vitro and in vivo