We present a methodology for production and application of electrospun hybrid materials containing commercial polyester (poly (butylene adipate-co-terephthalate; PBAT), and a conductive polymer (polypyrrole; PPy) as scaffold for neuronal growth and differentiation. The physical-chemical properties of the scaffolds and optimization of the electrospinning parameters are presented. The electrospun scaffolds are biocompatible and allow proper adhesion and spread of mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs). Fibers produced with PBAT with or without PPy were used as scaffold for Neuro2a mouse neuroblastoma cells adhesion and differentiation. Neuro2a adhered to PBAT and PBAT/PPy2% scaffolds without laminin coating. However, Neuro2a failed to differentiate in PBAT when stimulated by treatment with retinoic acid (RA), but differentiated in PBAT/PPy2% fibers. We hypothesize that PBAT hydrophobicity inhibited proper spreading and further differentiation, and inhibition was overcome by coating the PBAT fibers with laminin. We conclude that fibers produced with the combination of PBAT and PPy can support neuronal differentiation.

Electrospinning shows a feasible way to generate hybrid scaffolds from the combination of different materials. This work presented a successful route to prepare ultrathin fibers from hybrid solutions containing a commercial polyester, poly (butylene adipate-co-terephthalate) (PBAT) and a conductive polymer, polypyrrole (PPy). The final material (PBAT/PPy) showed an enhanced potential for neuronal differentiation when compared to neat PBAT. The PPy loading improved branching and neurite extension of Neuro2a cells, which opens a wide range of perspectives where these materials may be applied in regenerative medicine.. CC-BY-NC-ND 4.0 International license peer-reviewed) is the author/funder. It is made available under a The copyright holder for this preprint (which was not . http://dx.doi.org/10.1101/241307 doi: bioRxiv preprint first posted online Dec. 30, 2017; 3 ABSTRACTWe present a methodology for production and application of electrospun hybrid materials containing commercial polyester (poly (butylene adipate-coterephthalate; PBAT), and a conductive polymer (polypirrole; PPy) as scaffold for neuronal growth and differentiation. The physical-chemical properties of the scaffolds and optimization of the electrospinning parameters are presented.The electrospun scaffolds are biocompatible and allow proper adhesion and spread of mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs). Fibers produced with PBAT with or without PPy were used as scaffold for Neuro2a mouse neuroblastoma cells adhesion and differentiation. Neuro2a adhered to PBAT and PBAT/PPy2% scaffolds without laminin coating. However, Neuro2a failed to differentiate in PBAT when stimulated by treatment with retinoic acid (RA), but differentiated in PBAT/PPy2% fibers. We hypothesize that PBAT hydrophobicity inhibited proper spreading and further differentiation, and inhibition was overcome by coating the PBAT fibers with laminin. We conclude that fibers produced with the combination of PBAT and PPy can support neuronal differentiation.