Molecular Electronics Laboratory, Chemistry and Physics of Materials Unit, Jawaharlal Nehru Centre for Advanced Scientific Research, Bangalore, India.
Tissue Eng Part A. 2013 Sep;19(17-18):1984-93. doi: 10.1089/ten.TEA.2012.0626. Epub 2013 May 14.
Electrically conducting polymers are prospective candidates as active substrates for the development of neuroprosthetic devices. The utility of these substrates for promoting differentiation of embryonic stem cells paves viable routes for regenerative medicine. Here, we have tuned the electrical and mechanical cues provided to the embryonic stem cells during differentiation by precisely straining the conducting polymer (CP) coated, elastomeric-substrate. Upon straining the substrates, the neural differentiation pattern occurs in form of aggregates, accompanied by a gradient where substrate interface reveals a higher degree of differentiation. The CP domains align under linear stress along with the formation of local defect patterns leading to disruption of actin cytoskeleton of cells, and can provide a mechano-transductive basis for the observed changes in the differentiation. Our results demonstrate that along with biochemical and mechanical cues, conductivity of the polymer plays a major role in cellular differentiation thereby providing another control feature to modulate the differentiation and proliferation of stem cells.
导电聚合物是神经修复装置开发的有前途的活性基底候选材料。这些基底在促进胚胎干细胞分化方面的应用为再生医学开辟了可行的途径。在这里，我们通过精确地拉伸涂覆有导电聚合物 (CP) 的弹性基底，调整了胚胎干细胞在分化过程中获得的电和机械线索。在拉伸基底时，神经分化模式以聚集的形式发生，同时存在一个梯度，其中基底界面显示出更高程度的分化。CP 域在线性应力下排列，同时形成局部缺陷模式，导致细胞的肌动蛋白细胞骨架断裂，并为观察到的分化变化提供机械转导基础。我们的结果表明，除了生化和机械线索外，聚合物的导电性在细胞分化中起着重要作用，从而为调节干细胞的分化和增殖提供了另一个控制特征。
