Biomimetic 3D bacterial cellulose-graphene foam hybrid scaffold regulates neural stem cell proliferation and differentiation

Neural stem cell (NSC)-based therapy is a promising candidate for treating neurodegenerative diseases and the preclinical researches call an urgent need for regulating the growth and differentiation of such cells. The recognition that three-dimensional culture has the potential to be a biologically significant system has stimulated an extraordinary impetus for scientific researches in tissue engineering and regenerative medicine. Here, A novel scaffold for culturing NSCs, three-dimensional bacterial cellulose-graphene foam (3D-BC/G), which was prepared via in situ bacterial cellulose interfacial polymerization on the skeleton surface of porous graphene foam has been reported. 3D-BC/G not only supports NSC growth and adhesion, but also maintains NSC stemness and enhances their proliferative capacity. Further phenotypic analysis indicated that 3D-BC/G induces NSCs to selectively differentiate into neurons, forming a neural network in a short amount of time. The scaffold has good biocompatibility with primary cortical neurons enhancing the neuronal network activities. To explore the underlying mechanisms, RNA-Seq analysis to identify genes and signaling pathways was performed and it suggests that 3D-BC/G offers a more promising three-dimensional conductive substrate for NSC research and neural tissue engineering, and the repertoire of gene expression serves as a basis for further studies to better understand NSC biology.

Automated summary

Research has introduced a novel scaffold for culturing neural stem cells, promoting their growth and differentiation into neurons to form neural networks. This scaffold shows good biocompatibility with neurons and enhances neuronal network activities. Additionally, RNA-Seq analysis identified genes and signaling pathways, suggesting potential for further studies in understanding neural stem cell biology.