Printed Graphene Layer as a Base for Cell Electrostimulation—Preliminary Results

Abstract

Nerve regeneration through cell electrostimulation will become a key finding in regenerative medicine. The procedure will provide a wide range of applications, especially in body reconstruction, artificial organs or nerve prostheses. Other than in the case of the conventional polystyrene substrates, the application of the current flow in the cell substrate stimulates the cell growth and mobility, supports the synaptogenesis, and increases the average length of neuron nerve fibres. The indirect electrical cell stimulation requires a non-toxic, highly electrically conductive substrate material enabling a precise and effective cell electrostimulation. The process can be successfully performed with the use of the graphene nanoplatelets (GNPs)—the structures of high conductivity and biocompatible with mammalian NE-4C neural stem cells used in the study. One of the complications with the production of inks using GNPs is their agglomeration, which significantly hampers the quality of the produced coatings. Therefore, the selection of the proper amount of the surfactant is paramount to achieve a high-quality substrate. The article presents the results of the research into the material manufacturing used in the cell electrostimulation. The outcomes allow for the establishment of the proper amount of the surfactant to achieve both high conductivity and quality of the coating, which could be used not only in electronics, but also—due to its biocompatibility—fruitfully applied to the cell electrostimulation.

Versatile and Easily Designable Polyester-Laser Toner Interfaces for Site-Oriented Adsorption of Antibodies

“…It is worth emphasizing that the facility of application on the PET substrate is because the organic–inorganic copolymer composite with iron oxide powder is in the form of a ready-to-use and commercially available formulation and that the printing process by means of thermal curing is possible with the basic office device. In turn, in the case of carbon nanomaterial-based pastes and inks applied on PET substrates, it is necessary to use dedicated screen printing or spray coating tools [ 44 , 45 ].…”

Ultrasonication effects on graphene composites in neural cell cultures

“…Through the successful use of a sonotrode, the efficiency of the fabrication process of graphene heterophasic inks was increased by shortening the sonication time from 90 to 2 min while increasing the conductivity of the layers. Comparing the fabrication times of the inks made in our previous work (90 + 15 min sonication) (Dybowska-Sarapuk et al, 2020), one can estimate a more than the decimal reduction in the fabrication process of inks while maintaining the appropriate rheological properties of the ink and conductivity of the coatings.…”

“…In this study, neural stem cells from 8 to 10 passages were used. The cells medium and culture substrate had been prepared, as described in detail in previous work (Dybowska-Sarapuk et al, 2020). Mouse NE-4C cells were seeded at 47,500 per well (5,000 per 1 cm 2 ), which were then incubated at 37 • C in an atmosphere of 5% CO 2 .…”

Electrospinning Fabrication and Cytocompatibility Investigation of Nanodiamond Particles-Gelatin Fibrous Tubular Scaffolds for Nerve Regeneration

“…Since cells are naturally accustomed to nanotopographical microenvironments, nanostructuring of scaffolds through surface decoration or using embedded nanoparticles was investigated to additionally enhance cellular guidance [ 20 , 21 ]. It has been proved that nanocarbon species, such as graphene, graphene oxide, and nanodiamond particles (NDs), present potential in stimulating interactions with neuronal stem cells (NSCs) [ 20 , 21 , 22 ]. Previous work of our group reported the in vitro potential of electrospun scaffolds based on FG loaded with NDs to stimulate the cell-interactivity of the matrix [ 23 , 24 ].…”