Nanofibrous hydrogel with stable electrical conductivity for biological applications

3D hydrogel environment with both unique properties of nanofibrous structure and electrical character can provide a promising scaffold for skeletal muscle tissue engineering approaches. Herein, the poly acrylic acid (PAA)-based hydrogel was engineered to conductive one by aniline polymerization in the form of nanofibers. The poly aniline (PANi) nanofibers were made by the optimized chemical reactions between the surface carboxylate groups of based hydrogel and protonated aniline monomers. We found that the strong bonding which was created between PANi and camphor sulphonic acid (CSA) as a doping agent supporting the stable electrical property of composite hydrogel after incubation in cell media culture. The fabricated 3D conductive nanofibrous hydrogels were cultured by satellite cells enriched from mice skeletal muscles. The average length of formed myofibers was relatively about 1 mm as a result of fusion occurred between satellite cells. No cytotoxicity of composite hydrogel was observed against satellite cells beside higher muscle differentiation value based on the gene expression pattern and immuno-staining method. (C) 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.