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Volume 8 Journal of Biotechnology and Biomaterials
ISSN: 2155-952X Biomaterials 2018
March 05-06, 2018
March 05-06, 2018 | Berlin, Germany
3rd Annual Conference and Expo on
Biomaterials
Electrospun fibromyalgia nanostructured and chronic scaffold pain based on thermoplastic urethane
(TPU)/carbon nanotube (CNT) with enhanced neural cell differentiation and proliferation: The
influence of CNT micro-morphology
Fatemeh Pouladzadeh and Ali Asghar Katbab
Amirkabir University of Technology, Iran
The use of electrically conducting materials for the fabrication of neural scaffolds has attracted great attention since these
materials can easily simulate the inherent bioelectricity of neural cells. However, appropriate mechanical properties and
flexibility together with surface biocompatibility are required. In the present work, scaffolds based on thermoplastic urethane
(TPU) comprising 0, 1.5, 2.5 and 3.5 wt.% of carbon nanotube (CNT) have been fabricated via electrospinning, in order
to study the effect of the degree of electrical conductivity of scaffolds upon cell behaviour. Morphological and mechanical
characteristics of the scaffolds have been investigated using AFM, SEM, TEM and tensile assays. The cytocompatibility,
proliferation and differentiation of rat mesenchymal stem cells (RMSC) have been studied using MTT assay, SEMmicrographs
and real-time PCR. Neurons transmit electrochemical signals throughout the nervous system. Signalling can be enhanced
and directed by an external electric or electromagnetic stimulus by means of inducing circulating current within the body
nervous system. For this purpose, the RMSC cultured scaffolds with different conductivity were exposed to an extremely low
frequency pulsed electromagnetic field (50 Hz, 1mT). Electrical conductivity of scaffolds showed to follow percolation model
with a percolation threshold near 2.5 wt.% of CNT, above which the conductivity increased sharply as a result of conductive
physical networks formed by the CNT particles. The biological assays performed on CNT loaded scaffolds revealed higher
enhancement of neural gene expression and differentiation for the samples stayed above the threshold implying the positive
role of the state of conductivity for increasing the efficiency of the scaffold for the regeneration of damaged nervous system.
J Biotechnol Biomater 2018, Volume 8
DOI: 10.4172/2155-952X-C1-089