Development of Electroactive and Elastic Nanofibers that contain Polyaniline and Poly(L‐lactide‐co‐ε‐caprolactone) for the Control of Cell Adhesion

Abstract

In this work, electrically conductive polyaniline (PAni) doped with camphorsulfonic acid (CPSA) is blended with poly(L-lactide-co-epsilon-caprolactone) (PLCL), and then electrospun to prepare uniform nanofibers. The CPSA-PAni/PLCL nanofibers show a smooth fiber structure without coarse lumps or beads and consistent fiber diameters (which range from 100 to 700 nm) even with an increase in the amount of CPSA-PAni (from 0 to 30 wt.-%). However, the elongation at break decreases from 391.54 +/- 9.20% to 207.85 +/- 6.74% when 30% of CPSA-PAni is incorporated. Analysis of the surface of the nanofibers demonstrates the presence of homogeneously blended CPSA-PAni. Most importantly, a four-point probe analysis reveals that electrical properties are maintained in the nanofibers where the conductivity is significantly increased from 0.0015 to 0.0138 S x cm(-1) when the nanofibers are prepared with 30% CPSA-PAni. The cell adhesion tests using human dermal fibroblasts, NIH-3T3 fibroblasts, and C2C12 myoblasts demonstrate significantly higher adhesion on the CPSA-PAni/PLCL nanofibers than pure PLCL nanofibers. In addition, the growth of NIH-3T3 fibroblasts is enhanced under the stimulation of various direct current flows. The CPSA-PAni/PLCL nanofibers with electrically conductive properties may potentially be used as a platform substrate to study the effect of electrical signals on cell activities and to direct desirable cell function for tissue engineering applications.

Nanocomposite and Nanostructured Carbon-based Films as Growth Substrates for Bone Cells

“…For example, Schwann cells cultured on electrically conductive melanin films accelerated their proliferation, and rat pheochromocytoma PC12 cells enhanced extension of their neurites (Bettinger et al, 2009). Similarly, composite nanofibers made of electrically conductive polyaniline blended with poly(L-lactide-co-epsilon-caprolactone) enhanced the adhesion and proliferation of C2C12 murine skeletal muscle myoblasts, as well as their differentiation towards myotubes (Jeong et al, 2008;Jun et al, 2009). The mechanisms of the positive effects of electroactive materials on cell colonization and function (which can be further enhanced by additional electrical stimulation of cells through the materials) have not yet been fully elucidated and systemized.…”

Application of conductive polymers, scaffolds and electrical stimulation for nerve tissue engineering

“…Li et al (2006) also showed that the incorporation of PANI into gelatin solution decreased the fibre diameter from 803 ± 121 nm for pure gelatin fibres to 61 ± 13 nm for 60:40 PANI-gelatin blend fibres. In yet another study, Jeong et al (2008) showed that by increasing the volume ratios of PANI in poly(L-lactide-co-ε-caprolactone) (PLCL) solution, the diameters of resultant nanofibres decreased from 430 ± 116 nm for pure PLCL to 382 ± 102 nm for PANI/PLCL nanofibres. Table 2 shows the different conductive nanofibrous scaffolds that have been fabricated for various tissue-engineering applications.…”

“…These researchers also fabricated a conductive biodegradable composite material made of PPy nanoparticles and poly(D,L-lactide), applied electrical stimulation after seeding fibroblasts on them and found similar upregulations (Shi et al, 2004). Jeong et al (2008) fabricated nanofibrous scaffolds containing PANI and poly(L-lactideco-ε-caprolactone) and investigated the behaviour of human dermal fibroblasts, NIH-3T3 fibroblasts and C2C12 myoblasts on this scaffold. The growth of NIH-3T3 fibroblasts was enhanced by stimulation of various DC flows.…”

“…The inherent nature of neurons is to transmit electrochemical signals throughout the nervous system and, as a result, they are highly influenced by electrical stimuli (Yu et al, 2008b). Previous studies have shown that electrical stimulation is an effective cue in stimulating either the proliferation or differentiation of various cell types McCaig and Zhao, 1997;Sun et al, 2006;Ciombor and Aaron, 1993;Aaron and Ciombor, 1993;Goldman and Pollack, 1996;Dust and Bawornluck, 2006;Shi et al, 2008;Zhao et al,1996Zhao et al, , 1999Yaoita et al,1990;Guimarda et al, 2007;Rivers et al, 2002;Jeong et al, 2008;Whitehead et al, 2007;Ateh et al, 2006;Schmidt et al, 2003;Valentini et al, 1992). In this review we discuss the electrical properties of nerve cells, the most commonly utilized conductive polymers, namely polypyrrole (PPy) and polyaniline (PANI), the principle of electrical stimulation and the application of electrical stimulation through conductive scaffolds to nerve cells.…”

Semiconducting, biodegradable and bioactive fibers for drug delivery

“…However, the preparation of such nanoconstructs has been essentially restricted to the combination of biodegradable polymer with small electroactive oligomers (e.g. oligothiophenes [26] and oligoanilines [27,28], polyaniline (PAni) or PPy derivatives [20,[29][30][31]. On the other hand, antecedents on drug delivery systems fabricated with nanofibers based on biodegradable polymers-CP blends are very scarce.…”