Development of an Electroactive Hydrogel as a Scaffold for Excitable Tissues

• Published in: International journal of biomaterials Vol. 2021; pp. 6669504 - 9
• Main Authors: Gupta, Kriti, Patel, Ruchi, Dias, Madara, Ishaque, Hina, White, Kristopher, Olabisi, Ronke
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: United States Hindawi 2021; John Wiley & Sons, Inc; Hindawi Limited
• Subjects: Acrylic acid; Action potential; Actuation; Biocompatibility; Contraction; Cytotoxicity; Electric fields; Electroactive materials; Hydrogels; Molecular weight; Muscle contraction; Muscles; Packaging industry; Peptides; Polyacrylic acid; Polymers; Scaffolds; Stem cells; Tissue engineering; United States; United States > US
• ISSN: 1687-8787; 1687-8795
• DOI: 10.1155/2021/6669504

For many cells used in tissue engineering applications, the scaffolds upon which they are seeded do not entirely mimic their native environment, particularly in the case of excitable tissues. For instance, muscle cells experience contraction and relaxation driven by the electrical input of an action potential. Electroactive materials can also deform in response to electrical input; however, few such materials are currently suitable as cell scaffolds. We previously described the development of poly(ethyelene glycol) diacrylate-poly(acrylic acid) as an electroactive scaffold. Although the scaffold itself supported cell growth and attachment, the voltage (20 V) required to actuate these scaffolds was cytotoxic. Here, we describe the further development of our hydrogels into scaffolds capable of actuation at voltages (5 V) that were not cytotoxic to seeded cells. This study describes the critical next steps towards the first functional electroactive tissue engineering scaffold.