Golafshan Nasim, Kharaziha Mahshid, Fathi Mohammadhossein, Larson Benjamin L, Giatsidis Giorgio, Masoumi Nafiseh
Department of Materials Engineering, Isfahan University of Technology Isfahan 84156-83111 Iran, Email:
Harvard-MIT Division of Health Sciences and Technology, Koch Institute for Integrative Cancer Research, Massachusetts Institute of Technology Cambridge MA 02139 USA
RSC Adv. 2018 Feb 8;8(12):6381-6389. doi: 10.1039/c7ra13136d. eCollection 2018 Feb 6.
Tough scaffolds comprised of aligned and conductive fibers are promising for peripheral nerve regeneration due to their unique mechanical and electrical properties. Several studies have confirmed that electrical stimulation can control the axonal extension . However, the stimulatory effects of scaffold architecture and electrical stimulation have not yet been investigated in detail. Here, we assessed a comparison between aligned and random fibers made of graphene (Gr) embedded sodium alginate (SA) polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) (Gr-AP scaffolds) for peripheral nerve engineering. The effects of applied electrical stimulation and orientation of the fabricated fibers on the attachment, alignment, and proliferation of PC12 cells (a rat neuronal cell line) were investigated. The results revealed that the aligned fibrous Gr-AP scaffolds closely mimicked the anisotropic structure of the native sciatic nerve. Aligned fibrous Gr-AP scaffolds significantly improved mechanical properties as well as cell-scaffold integration compared to random fibrous scaffolds. In addition, electrical stimulation significantly improved PC12 cell proliferation. In summary, our findings revealed that aligned fibrous Gr-AP scaffolds offered superior mechanical characteristics and structural properties that enhanced neural cell-substrate interactions, resulting in a promising construct for nerve tissue regeneration.
由排列整齐的导电纤维组成的坚韧支架因其独特的机械和电学特性，在周围神经再生方面具有广阔前景。多项研究证实，电刺激能够控制轴突的延伸。然而，支架结构和电刺激的刺激效果尚未得到详细研究。在此，我们评估了用于周围神经工程的、由嵌入海藻酸钠（SA）聚乙烯醇（PVA）的石墨烯（Gr）制成的排列整齐的纤维与随机纤维（Gr-AP支架）之间的差异。研究了施加的电刺激和制成纤维的取向对PC12细胞（一种大鼠神经元细胞系）的附着、排列和增殖的影响。结果表明，排列整齐的纤维状Gr-AP支架紧密模仿了天然坐骨神经的各向异性结构。与随机纤维支架相比，排列整齐的纤维状Gr-AP支架显著改善了机械性能以及细胞与支架的整合。此外，电刺激显著提高了PC12细胞的增殖。总之，我们的研究结果表明，排列整齐的纤维状Gr-AP支架具有优异的机械特性和结构性能，增强了神经细胞与基质的相互作用，从而成为一种有前景的神经组织再生构建体。
