Electroactive 3D printable poly(3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene)-graft-poly(ε-caprolactone) copolymers as scaffolds for muscle cell alignment

Abstract

The development of tailor-made polymers to build artificial three-dimensional scaffolds to repair damaged skin tissues is gaining increasing attention in the bioelectronics field. Poly (3,4-ethylene dioxythiophene) (PEDOT) is the gold...

Biocompatible Synthetic Polymers for Tissue Engineering Purposes

“…Cells attach to and organize well around such fibers with a diameter smaller than the diameter of the cells, and although different microfiber diameters have been investigated, ,, the ideal diameter has not been determined. Electrospinning is a widely employed technique for the fabrication of muscle TE scaffolds, with a variety of synthetic polymers including the polyesters PCL and PLGA (because they are processable and biodegradable), and conductive polymers like polyacrylonitrile (PANI), polypyrrole (PPy), and poly­(3,4-ethylene dioxythiophene) (PEDOT). ,, These conductive polymers are used as an alternative or complementary approach to topographical contact guidance, to facilitate the restoration of the contracting function of muscles which is a response to electrical signals, reduce scar tissue, and enhance myotube formation . Because of the insolubility, brittleness, and difficulty in processing that arise from aromatic units in their structure, they are often combined with other processable, softer polymers like PCL .…”

Thioether-based ROS responsive polymers for biomedical applications

“…Biopolyesters such as poly(e-caprolactone) (PCL), approved by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), are extensively explored in the biomedical field. 30,31 Thus, the one-step lipase-catalyzed polycondensation of hydrophilic monomethoxy poly(ethylene glycol) (mPEG) and hydrophobic poly(e-caprolactone) (PCL) or poly(b-thioether ester) (PTE) allowed to obtain the block copolymers, mPEG-b-PCL and mPEG-b-PTE respectively, which were able to self-assemble in aqueous solution forming nanosized micelles. The critical micelle concentration (CMC) decreased with the PTE chain length due to the enhanced hydrophobicity of the micelle inner cores, and the size of the micelles increased.…”

Digital Light 3D Printing of PEDOT-Based Photopolymerizable Inks for Biosensing

“… 21 These 3D scaffolds showed biocompatibility in the presence of myoblasts and cardiomyocytes, as well as electroactive properties for tissue engineering applications. 21 , 22 Apart from that, the development of printable conductive hydrogels with enhanced flexibility and adhesion properties would be beneficial. 23 , 24 That is the case of PEDOT:polystyrene sulfonate (PSS) dispersions mixed with organic solvents, poly(vinyl alcohol) (PVA), or natural polymers forming shear-thinning gels (10 2 –10 3 Pa s) able to be printed by DIW in a shape-defined three-dimensional (3D) structure to be employed as soft sensors or cell-laden scaffolds.…”