Combining Electrospinning and Electrospraying to Prepare a Biomimetic Neural Scaffold with Synergistic Cues of Topography and Electrotransduction

Abstract

The nerve tissue consists of aligned fibrous nerve bundles, in which neurons communicate and transmit information through electrical signals. Hence, biocompatibility, oriented fibrous structure, and electrical conductivity are key factors for the biomimetic design of nerve scaffolds. Herein, we built a technical platform to combine electrospinning and electrospraying for preparing a biomimetic scaffold with conductivity and aligned fibrous structure. The highly aligned polycaprolactone (PCL) microfibrous scaffolds with co-sprayed collagen and conductive polypyrrole nanoparticles (PPy NPs) showed good bioactivity, supplying a platform for exploring the effects of topographical guidance, fiber conductivity, and its mediated external electrical signals on neurogenesis. The results revealed that collagen-coated highly aligned PCL microfibrous scaffold induced PC12 cells oriented and elongated along the direction of fibers. In addition, the improved conductivity of PPy-coated aligned fibers and its mediated external electrical stimulation collectively contributed to the functional expression, including elongation, gene expression, and protein expression, of PC12 cells. We further demonstrated the potential mechanism where the fiber conductivity and its mediated external electrical signals resulted in the upregulation of voltage-gated calcium channel, leading to the influx of Ca2+, thereby activating intracellular signaling cascades, ultimately enhancing neurogenesis. This approach provides a strategy to design aligned fibrillary scaffolds with bioactive adhesion domains and electroconductivity for neural regeneration.

A photoelectric effect integrated scaffold for the wireless regulation of nerve cellular behavior

“…Our previous work has proved that exogenous electrical stimulus can promote the opening of L-type voltage-gated calcium channel (L-VGCC); 29 thus, western blot was performed on day 10 to study the expression level of the L-VGCC protein (Fig. 6A).…”

“…The oriented PCL scaffold was prepared following our previously described method. 29 In short, 1.5 g PCL powder was dissolved in 10 mL chloroform solution and then syringed into a 10 mL standard syringe with three parallel 20 G blunt needles having 0.6 mm inner diameter. Then, the syringe was placed on an electrospinning device (E02-001, Foshan, China, Fig.…”

“…23–28 Our previous work has reported that the oriented fibrous structure of the scaffold produced through electrospinning is conducive for promoting neurogenesis. 29 Also, via the electrospraying method, collagen or other bioactive components could be easily loading onto the fibrous scaffold, endowing the customized scaffold with abundant cell adhesion sites and excellent biocompatibility, as well as additional functions such as eletroconductivity. 29 Following this feasible fabrication technology, as well as introducing the abovementioned photoelectrical components, we can get the desired design of scaffolds to integrate multiple needs of an ideal nerve scaffold, which holds the advantages of favoring nerve cell adhesion, guiding neural elongation, as well as loading electric stimulation on cells by wireless lighting, making it likely to promote neurogenesis.…”

Understanding the role of bond point strain in the mechanical response of nonwoven polypropylene materials

“…Electrospinning and electrospraying are both similar electrohydrodynamic processes where micron and sub-micron fibers or particles can be made by utilizing an electrical field as the driving force to atomize liquids. [23][24][25] Simplicity of preparation is the main advantage of these methods; they are flexible, facile, and cost effective 26,24 with applications in drug delivery, food industry, tissue engineering, mass spectrometry, nanodevices, electronics, and filtration. Using electrospraying a liquid that is passing through a capillary with a low flow rate is used as the ink to produce micron/submicron droplets that will be deposited on the collector's surface (made of steel).…”

Simultaneous Electrospinning and Electrospraying for the Preparation of a Precursor Membrane Containing Hydrothermally Generated Biochar Particles to Produce the Value-Added Product of Carbon Nanofibrous Felt

“…In electrospinning, fibers are generated from a polymer solution/suspension that can produce a continuous jet/filament due to electric repulsion force [ 2 ]; in electrospraying, particles are made from the capillary breakup of jet/filament due to surface tension and low solution/suspension viscosity [ 3 ]. A simultaneous electrospinning and electrospraying technique is developed to produce a hybrid nanofibrous membrane with different types of nanofibers and particles by the simultaneous electrospinning and electrospraying of two spinnerets [ 4 , 5 , 6 , 7 ]. In addition, the traditional electrospinning and electrospraying can be modified by adding supercritical CO 2 into the precursor polymeric solution, which can overcome some intrinsic limitations of the traditional processes—namely, surface tension and viscosity control [ 8 ].…”