Differentiation of Postnatal Neural Stem Cells into Glia and Functional Neurons on Laminin-Coated Polymeric Substrates

Abstract

A series of polymeric biomaterials, including poly(methyl acrylate), chitosan, poly(ethyl acrylate) (PEA), poly(hydroxyethyl acrylate) (PHEA), and a series of random copolymers containing ethyl acrylate, hydroxyethyl acrylate, and methyl acrylate were tested in vitro as culture substrates and compared for their effect on the differentiation of neural stem cells (NSCs) obtained from the subventricular zone of postnatal rats. Immunocytochemical assay for specific markers and scanning electron microscopy techniques were employed to determine the adhesion of the cultured NSCs to the different biomaterials and the respective neuronal differentiation. The functional properties and the membrane excitability of differentiated NSCs were investigated using a patch-clamp. The results show that the substrate's surface chemistry influences cell attachment and neuronal differentiation, probably through its influence on adsorbed laminin, and that copolymers based on PEA and PHEA in a narrow composition window are suitable substrates to promote cell attachment and differentiation of adult NSCs into functional neurons and glia.

Fibrin coating on poly (L-lactide) scaffolds for tissue engineering

“…Las propiedades físicas que caracterizan al PEA son la flexibilidad de la cadena principal, la naturaleza polar y la longitud de las cadenas laterales (19) . En cuanto a las características relacionadas con su comportamiento en entornos biológicos, se trata de un polímero altamente compatible con distintos tipos de células in vitro, siendo unas de ellas las células neuronales (20)(21)(22)(23) . Esta alta compatibilidad biológica parece que es debida a que el PEA favorece la fibrilogénesis de laminina y fibronectina en sus superficies (24)(25)(26) , lo cual permite una correcta deposición de la matriz extracelular, la cual es reconocida por las células y se adhieren a esta con facilidad.…”

“…Las características de la estructura molecular del PEA, movilidad de la cadena lateral, la polaridad y su baja hidrofilicidad, permiten que tenga lugar una interacción directa entre el polímero y las proteínas de la matriz extracelular. Por otra parte, es posible llevar a cabo la preparación de materiales ultraporosos, que permiten la invasión celular y que se utilizan como guías para el crecimiento celular, son los "scaffolds" (21)(22)(27)(28)(29)(30)(31)(32)(33)(34)(35)(36) . Además mediante distintas variantes de la técnica de porógeno-lixiviación se consiguen distintas estructuras porosas (27-29, 31, 33-36) .…”

Neuronal Electrophysiological Function and Control of Neurite Outgrowth on Electrospun Polymer Nanofibers Are Cell Type Dependent

“…10 Neurons cultured on two-dimensional cast polymer surfaces also display normal function. 11 However, many polymer-based scaffolds are nanofabricated, increasing the ratio of material surface area to volume which, in turn, increases the contact area between the cells and substrate, 12 potentially magnifying effects the material may have on cell function. Increasing the surface area also increases degradation rates of degradable polymers 13 which, along with any resultant by-products, has the potential to alter the electrophysiological function with time in extended culture.…”

Combining self-assembling peptide gels with three-dimensional elastomer scaffolds

“…It has shown excellent compatibility with different types of cells in vitro: chondrocytes [18], keratinocytes [19], endothelial cells [20], neural cells [21][22][23][24], osteoblasts [25] or dental pulp stem cells [26], and has been recently proposed as a feeder-free platform for the maintenance and growth of human embryonic stem cells [27]. Due to its easy way of polymerization, PEA can be prepared in the form of scaffolds with different architectures, liable to invasion by cells and intended as guiding support for cell growth [1,19,20,22,23,[28][29][30][31].…”