A new electrospun graphene-silk fibroin composite scaffolds for guiding Schwann cells

Abstract

Graphene (Gr) has been made of various forms used for repairing peripheral nerve injury with favorable electroactivity, however, graphene-based scaffolds in peripheral nerve regeneration are still rarely reported due to the difficulty of realizing uniform dispersion of graphene and electroactive materials at nanoscale as well as lacking biocompatibility. In this paper, graphene-silk fibroin (SF) composite nanofiber membranes with different mass ratios were prepared via electrospinning. Microscopic observation revealed that electrospun Gr/SF membranes had a nanofibrous structure. Electrochemical analysis provided electroactivity characterization of the Gr/SF membranes. The physiochemical results showed that the physiochemical properties of electrospun Gr/SF membranes could be changed by varying Gr concentration. Swelling ratio and contact angle measurements confirmed that electrospun Gr/SF membranes possessed large absorption capacity and hydrophilic surface, and the mechanical property was improved with increasing Gr concentration. Additionally, in-vitro cytotoxicity with L929 revealed that all the electrospun Gr/SF membranes are biocompatible. Moreover, the morphology and quantity showed that the membranes supported the survival and growth of the cultured Schwann cells. Collectively, all of the results suggest that the electrospun Gr/SF membranes combine the excellent electrically conductivity and mechanical strength of the graphene with biocompatibility property of silk to mimic the natural neural cell micro-environment for nerve development.

Interfacing Graphene-Based Materials With Neural Cells

“…This composite material is of interest as it combines the electrical conductivity and mechanical strength of G with the good compatibility of silk. Although they have not been tested in vivo , G-silk membranes support the growth of Schwann cells in vitro (Zhao et al, 2017 ).…”

Electrically Conducting Hydrogel Graphene Nanocomposite Biofibers for Biomedical Applications

“…This is probably due to graphene-alginate interactions that also led to an increase in mechanical properties of this composite fiber Peng et al, 2017). The obtained swelling ratio value for Alg/G fibers in our study is by far among the lowest values reported in the literature (Peng et al, 2017(Peng et al, , 2018Zhao et al, 2017), which made these fibers not easily destroyable by the swelling force.…”

Mechanism research on a bioactive resveratrol–PLA–gelatin porous nano-scaffold in promoting the repair of cartilage defect

“…Electrospinning can produce a scaffold with special features. 35 In order to improve the technique, we combined electrospinning with freeze drying and uniform dispersion techniques. We designed a nano-scaffold with a unique structure; it had a finer fiber diameter, larger surface area, higher porosity, and a more stable drug release rate.…”