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Volume 7, Issue 2 (Suppl) J Biotechnol Biomater
ISSN: 2155-952X JBTBM, an open access journal Biomaterials 2017
March 27-28, 2017
2nd Annual Conference and Expo on
March 27-28, 2017 Madrid, Spain
Salvador Aznar-Cervantes et al., J Biotechnol Biomater 2017, 7:2 (Suppl)
Electrical stimulation of PC-12 cells cultured on silk fibroin scaffolds coated with reduced graphene
Salvador Aznar-Cervantes1, Ana Pagán 1, Jose G Martínez2, Antonia Bernabeu-Esclapez3, Toribio F Otero2, Luis Meseguer-Olmo4, Juan I Paredes5 and Jose L
Cenis1
1Imida Murciano Institute for Agricultural and Food Research and Development, Spain
2Polytechnic University of Cartagena, Spain
3University of Murcia, Spain
4Catholic University San Antonio de Murcia, Spain
5National Institute of Coal - CSIC, Spain
New approaches to neural research require biocompatible materials capable to act as electrode structures or scaffolds in order
to stimulate or restore the functionality of damaged tissues. Graphene is a conducting material introduced in the field of
tissue engineering due to its good biocompatibility and potential applications in biomedicine. Silk fibroin (SF) is also a well-known
biocompatible material in itself that combines with graphene producing hybrid films formats, providing an excellent support for
cell proliferation. However, the use of electrospun mats seems to be a better choice due to the biomimetic configuration with an
extracellular matrix. Therefore, the approach proposed in the present work explores the combination of reduced graphene oxide
(rGO) adsorbed onSF mats in order to confer them electroconductive properties. PC-12 cell line was chosen for the study since
these cells can be differentiated into a neuronal-like phenotype by exposing to NGF. The differentiation levels achieved with this
treatment (SF/rGO/NGF) were compared to the ones obtained in cells growing on: Pure SF mats (SF), mats coated with rGO
submitted to Electrical Stimulation (SF/rGO/ES) and mats coated with rGO without any other stimulus (SF/rGO). The method of
production of these scaffolds barely alters the mechanical properties of pure SF mats. However, multiple benefits are obtained by
means of the coating with rGO. In addition to the optimal viability detected in cells growing on all the produced materials, a clear
improvement of adhesion and proliferation is exhibited in mats containing rGO. The stimulus provided by the rGO itself induces a
significant differentiation level to neuronal-like phenotypes. However, the percentage of differentiation can be increased by means of
the application of ES (100 mV during 2h) or the treatment with NGF, being the neurite outgrowth more pronounced when electric
currents are applied to the cell cultures.
Biography
Salvador Aznar-Cervantes works as a Researcher in the Department of Biotechnology in the R&D Center in Biotechnology and Biomedicine, IMIDA (Murcia).
He obtained his Degree in Biology from the University of Murcia (2006), then he completed his Doctoral thesis, working as a Grant Holder (FPI-INIA), under the
guidance of Dr. José Luis Cenis Anadón, in January 2013. While he is pursuing his PhD, he researched on biotechnological and biomedical applications of the silk
worm (Bombyxmori). This period was complemented with 3 successive visits (2010, 2011, and 2012) to the Department of Chemical Engineering of Massachusetts
Institute of Technology (MIT), where he also collaborated with Tufts University (Professor David L Kaplan) and the Massachusetts General Hospital (Professor
Robert Redmond).