Cell-material interactions play an essential role in the development of scaffold-based tissue engineering strategies. Cell therapies are still limited in treating injuries when severe damage causes irreversible loss of muscle cells. Electroactive biomaterials and, in particular, piezoelectric materials offer new opportunities for skeletal muscle tissue engineering, since these materials have demonstrated suitable electroactive microenvironments for tissue development. In this study, the influence of the surface charge of piezoelectric poly(vinylidene fluoride) (PVDF) on cell adhesion was investigated. The cytoskeletal organization of C2C12 myoblast cells grown on different PVDF samples was studied by immunofluorescence staining and the interactions between single live cells and PVDF were analyzed using an Atomic Force Microscopy (AFM) technique termed Single Cell Force Spectroscopy (SCFS). It was demonstrated that C2C12 myoblast cells seeded on samples with net surface charge present a more elongated morphology, this effect being dependent on the surface charge but independent of the poling direction (negative or positive surface charge). It was further shown that the cell de-adhesion forces of individual C2C12 cells were higher on PVDF samples with overall negative surface charge (8.92 ± 0.45 nN) compared to those on non-poled substrates (zero overall surface charge) (4.06 ± 0.20 nN). These findings explicitly demonstrate that the polarization/surface charge is an important parameter to determine cell fate, as it affects C2C12 cell adhesion, which in turn will influence cell behavior, namely cell proliferation and differentiation.

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The characterisation of biomaterials for cardiac tissue engineering applications is vital for the development of effective treatments for the repair of cardiac function. New smart materials developed from conductive polymers can provide dynamic benefits in supporting and stimulating stem cells via controlled surface properties, electrical and electromechanical stimulation. In this study we investigate the control of surface properties of conductive polymers through a systematic approach to variable synthesis parameters, and how the resulting surface properties influence the viability of cardiac progenitor cells. A thorough analysis investigating the effect of electropolymerisation parameters, such as current density and growth, and reagent variation on physical properties provides a fundamental understanding of how to optimise conductive polymer biomaterials for cardiac progenitor cells.

Funding Agencies|Linkoping University; IGEN (post-doc grant); COST-Action [MP1003]; Knut och Alice Wallenberg Commemorative Fund; European Research Agency