Ding Xiaoqiong, Hu Yangnan, Cheng Hong, Zhang Xiaoli, Lu Ling, Gao Song, Cheng Cheng, Wang Lifen, Qian Xiaoyun, Zhang Chen, Chai Renjie, Gao Xia, Huang Zhichun
Department of Otorhinolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery, Nanjing Drum Tower Hospital, Drum Tower Clinical College of Nanjing Medical University, Nanjing, China.
Department of Otorhinolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery, Zhongda Hospital, Southeast University, Nanjing, China.
Front Bioeng Biotechnol. 2022 Jun 22;10:927248. doi: 10.3389/fbioe.2022.927248. eCollection 2022.
The ideal treatment for sensory hearing loss is to regenerate inner ear hair cells (HCs) through stem cell therapy, thereby restoring the function and structure of the cochlea. Previous studies have found that Lgr5+ supporting cells (SCs) in the inner ear can regenerate HCs, thus being considered inner ear progenitor cells. In addition to traditional biochemical factors, physical factors such as electrical conductivity also play a crucial role in the regulation of stem cell proliferation and differentiation. In this study, the graphene substrates were used to culture Lgr5+ progenitor cells and investigated their regulatory effects on cells. It was demonstrated that the graphene substrates displayed great cytocompatibility for Lgr5+ progenitors and promoted their sphere-forming ability. Moreover, more Myosin7a+ cells were found on the graphene substrates compared with tissue culture polystyrene (TCPS). These results suggest that graphene is an efficient interface that can promote the differentiation of Lgr5+ progenitors into HCs, which is great significance for its future application in combination with Lgr5+ cells to regenerate HCs in the inner ear.
感音神经性听力损失的理想治疗方法是通过干细胞疗法使内耳毛细胞再生，从而恢复耳蜗的功能和结构。先前的研究发现，内耳中的Lgr5+支持细胞能够再生毛细胞，因此被认为是内耳祖细胞。除了传统的生化因子外，诸如电导率等物理因素在干细胞增殖和分化的调控中也起着关键作用。在本研究中，使用石墨烯基质培养Lgr5+祖细胞，并研究其对细胞的调控作用。结果表明，石墨烯基质对Lgr5+祖细胞表现出良好的细胞相容性，并促进了它们的成球能力。此外，与组织培养聚苯乙烯（TCPS）相比，在石墨烯基质上发现了更多的肌球蛋白7a+细胞。这些结果表明，石墨烯是一种有效的界面，能够促进Lgr5+祖细胞分化为毛细胞，这对于其未来与Lgr5+细胞联合用于内耳毛细胞再生的应用具有重要意义。
