Journal
JOURNAL OF MATERIALS CHEMISTRY B
Volume 10, Issue 10, Pages 1582-1590Publisher
ROYAL SOC CHEMISTRY
DOI: 10.1039/d1tb02361f
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Funding
- National Key Research and Development Program of China [2018YFC1105600]
- Key Program of NSFC [31830028]
- Priority Academic Program Development of Jiangsu Higher Education Institutions (PAPD) [21KJA430011]
- Undergraduate Innovation Training Programs of Nantong University [202010304031Z]
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The findings suggest that soft substrates play a critical role in SC function, while increased conductivity may also be beneficial. These insights advance our understanding of cell-matrix interactions and provide new perspectives for the design of neural tissue engineering scaffolds.
Peripheral nerve injuries are serious clinical events, and surgical treatment has certain limitations. Conductive hydrogels are promising biomaterials for neural tissue engineering, as they can enhance the functionality of neurons and Schwann cells (SCs) by mimicking the biophysical and biochemical cues existing in the natural extracellular matrix. It remains unexplored, however, whether there is a connection between the effects of different cues, such as hydrogel elasticity and conductivity, on SC fate. In the present work, we fabricated a series of conductive biocomposite hydrogels with the combination of silk fibroin (SF) and graphene oxide (GO) nanosheets and demonstrated an approach to control hydrogel electrical conductivity, independent of matrix elasticity and polymer concentration. Our results indicated that the soft substrates play a more critical role in SC survival, proliferation, spreading, and gene expression of neurotrophic factors, while the increased conductivity may also be beneficial to SC functional behaviors. These findings may promote the understanding of cell-matrix interactions and provide new insights for the design of neural tissue engineering scaffolds.
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