TY - JOUR
T1 - Electroconductive and injectable hydrogels based on gelatin and PEDOT:PSS for a minimally invasive approach in nervous tissue regeneration
AU - Furlani, Franco
AU - Montanari, Margherita
AU - Sangiorgi, Nicola
AU - Saracino, Emanuela
AU - Campodoni, Elisabetta
AU - Sanson, Alessandra
AU - Benfenati, Valentina
AU - Tampieri, Anna
AU - Panseri, Silvia
AU - Sandri, Monica
N1 - Funding Information:
This work was supported by the Mat2Rep project financed by POR-FESR 2014-20 and FSC of Emilia-Romagna. The work is also supported by Air Force Office of Scientific Research - AFOSR Research Projects FA9550-19-1-0370 (V. B.), FA9550-18-1-0255 (V. B.) and FA9550-20-1-0386 (V. B.), and MSCA-ITN-2020-ASTROTECH (GA956325) (V. B.). E.S is supported by POR-FESR 2014-2020 of Emilia Romagna Region, MAT-2-REP- FSC and by AFOSR ASTROLIGHT.
Funding Information:
The skillful assistance of Dr. Davide Gardini in rheological experiments is gratefully acknowledged. M. Caprini, A. Minardi, and F. Formaggio from FABIT Department, University of Bologna are kindly acknowledged for their assistance in cell preparation and maintenance.
Publisher Copyright:
© 2022 The Royal Society of Chemistry.
PY - 2022/3/7
Y1 - 2022/3/7
N2 - This work describes the development of electroconductive hydrogels as injectable matrices for neural tissue regeneration by exploiting a biocompatible conductive polymer - poly(3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene)-poly(styrenesulfonate) (PEDOT:PSS) - combined with a biomimetic polymer network made of gelatin. Our approach involved also genipin - a natural cross-linking agent - to promote gelation of gelatin networks embedding PEDOT:PSS. The achieved results suggest that physical-chemical properties of the resulting hydrogels, like impedance, gelation time, mechanical properties, swelling and degradation in physiological conditions, can be finely tuned by the amount of PEDOT:PSS and genipin used in the formulation. Furthermore, the presence of PEDOT:PSS (i) enhances the electrical conductivity, (ii) improves the shear modulus of the resulting hydrogels though (iii) partially impairing their resistance to shear deformation, (iv) reduces gelation time and (v) reduces their swelling ability in physiological medium. Additionally, the resulting electroconductive hydrogels demonstrate enhanced adhesion and growth of primary rat cortical astrocytes. Given the permissive interaction of hydrogels with primary astrocytes, the presented biomimetic, electroconductive and injectable hydrogels display potential applications as minimally invasive systems for neurological therapies and damaged brain tissue repair.
AB - This work describes the development of electroconductive hydrogels as injectable matrices for neural tissue regeneration by exploiting a biocompatible conductive polymer - poly(3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene)-poly(styrenesulfonate) (PEDOT:PSS) - combined with a biomimetic polymer network made of gelatin. Our approach involved also genipin - a natural cross-linking agent - to promote gelation of gelatin networks embedding PEDOT:PSS. The achieved results suggest that physical-chemical properties of the resulting hydrogels, like impedance, gelation time, mechanical properties, swelling and degradation in physiological conditions, can be finely tuned by the amount of PEDOT:PSS and genipin used in the formulation. Furthermore, the presence of PEDOT:PSS (i) enhances the electrical conductivity, (ii) improves the shear modulus of the resulting hydrogels though (iii) partially impairing their resistance to shear deformation, (iv) reduces gelation time and (v) reduces their swelling ability in physiological medium. Additionally, the resulting electroconductive hydrogels demonstrate enhanced adhesion and growth of primary rat cortical astrocytes. Given the permissive interaction of hydrogels with primary astrocytes, the presented biomimetic, electroconductive and injectable hydrogels display potential applications as minimally invasive systems for neurological therapies and damaged brain tissue repair.
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U2 - 10.1039/d2bm00116k
DO - 10.1039/d2bm00116k
M3 - Article
C2 - 35302129
AN - SCOPUS:85127929899
VL - 10
SP - 2040
EP - 2053
JO - Biomaterials Science
JF - Biomaterials Science
SN - 2047-4830
IS - 8
ER -