Improving the glial differentiation of human Schwann-like adipose-derived stem cells with graphene oxide substrates

Abstract

There is urgent need to improve the clinical outcome of peripheral nerve injury. Many efforts are directed towards the fabrication of bioengineered conduits, which could deliver stem cells to the site of injury to promote and guide peripheral nerve regeneration. The aim of this study is to assess whether graphene and related nanomaterials can be useful in the fabrication of such conduits. A comparison is made between graphene oxide (GO) and reduced GO substrates. Our results show that the graphene substrates are highly biocompatible, and the reduced GO substrates are more effective in increasing the gene expression of the biomolecules involved in the regeneration process compared to the other substrates studied.

Biomedical Applications of Graphene-Based Structures

“…The high Young’s modulus of graphene (~1 TPa) and its specific shape can, therefore, offer a way of forming composite materials with tailored mechanical properties for inducing a specific biological response [ 14 ]. In fact, graphene-based materials of varying mechanical properties have been explored for wound healing [ 22 , 96 ], stem cell engineering [ 30 , 97 , 98 , 99 ], and regenerative medicine and tissue engineering [ 20 , 100 , 101 ]. The excellent mechanical properties of graphene (high elasticity, strength, flexibility) and the ability to tailor various functionalities on flat surfaces [ 14 ] make graphene a potential reinforcement material in hydrogels [ 21 ], biodegradable films [ 102 ], electrospun fibers [ 96 ], and other tissue engineering scaffolds [ 103 ].…”

“…Currently, tissue damage remains one of the most crucial aspects that contributes to human death. In this regard, a number of studies have been performed that explore the use of graphene for stem cell engineering and musculoskeletal tissue engineering [ 30 , 97 , 98 , 99 , 105 ]. One such study is by Chen et al, who investigated the effect of G and GO platforms for the proliferation and differentiation of induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs) [ 97 ].…”

“…The variety of exquisite physicochemical and biological properties listed above shows the potential that graphene-based materials have for applications in many science fields. Indeed, the emergence of graphene-based materials has so far seen their use in a variety of fields that include bio-electronics [ 18 ], tissue engineering [ 19 , 20 , 21 ], drug delivery [ 2 , 20 ], antibacterial materials development [ 22 , 23 ], biosensing [ 24 , 25 ], gene delivery, [ 1 ], cancer treatment [ 26 ], and other biomedical applications [ 20 , 27 , 28 , 29 , 30 ]. Figure 2 summarizes the most important properties of graphene-based materials that contribute to applications in biomedical fields.…”

“…Figure 2 summarizes the most important properties of graphene-based materials that contribute to applications in biomedical fields. The incorporation of graphene-based nano-fillers offers the possibility to tune the mechanical properties of native materials, the possibility to add binding sites for further bio-functionalization with biological molecules, and additional properties; for example, conductivity for regulating cell behaviors, such as cell proliferation and differentiation, which promotes specific tissue regeneration [ 30 , 31 , 32 , 33 ].…”

The biomedical applications of graphene

“…This is followed by a paper by Bugli et al [3], who illustrate that curcumin-loaded graphene derivatives can provide the nano-morphology in fighting methicillin-resistant bacteria. Graphene oxide is one of the most used and leading graphene derivatives and, in their paper, Verre et al [4] vividly demonstrate the effects of graphene oxide substrates in increasing gene expression of biomolecules. The nano-platform is taken further by Yang et al [5], who are developing carbon (diamond)-coated nano-porous membranes for cellular attachment.…”