Conductive gradient hydrogels allow spatial control of adult stem cell fate
Electrical gradients are fundamental to physiological processes including cell migration, tissue formation, organ development, and response to injury and regeneration. Current electrical modulation of cells is primarily studied under a uniform electrical field. Here we demonstrate the fabrication of...
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Published in | Journal of materials chemistry. B, Materials for biology and medicine Vol. 12; no. 7; pp. 1854 - 1863 |
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Main Authors | , , , , , , , |
Format | Journal Article |
Language | English |
Published |
England
Royal Society of Chemistry
14.02.2024
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Subjects | |
Online Access | Get full text |
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Summary: | Electrical gradients are fundamental to physiological processes including cell migration, tissue formation, organ development, and response to injury and regeneration. Current electrical modulation of cells is primarily studied under a uniform electrical field. Here we demonstrate the fabrication of conductive gradient hydrogels (CGGs) that display mechanical properties and varying local electrical gradients mimicking physiological conditions. The electrically-stimulated CGGs enhanced human mesenchymal stem cell (hMSC) viability and attachment. Cells on CGGs under electrical stimulation showed a high expression of neural progenitor markers such as Nestin, GFAP, and Sox2. More importantly, CGGs showed cell differentiation toward oligodendrocyte lineage (Oligo2) in the center of the scaffold where the electric field was uniform with a greater intensity, while cells preferred neuronal lineage (NeuN) on the edge of the scaffold on a varying electric field at lower magnitude. Our data suggest that CGGs can serve as a useful platform to study the effects of electrical gradients on stem cells and potentially provide insights on developing new neural engineering applications.
Conductive gradient hydrogels (CGGs) allow preferential differentiation of human mesenchymal stem cells (hMSCs) toward oligodendrocyte lineage in the center while neuronal lineage at the edge of the scaffold under electrical stimulation. |
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Bibliography: | https://doi.org/10.1039/d3tb02269b Electronic supplementary information (ESI) available. See DOI ObjectType-Article-1 SourceType-Scholarly Journals-1 ObjectType-Feature-2 content type line 23 |
ISSN: | 2050-750X 2050-7518 |
DOI: | 10.1039/d3tb02269b |