Conductive GelMA/PEDOT: PSS Hybrid Hydrogel as a Neural Stem Cell Niche for Treating Cerebral Ischemia-Reperfusion Injury

Abstract

Cerebral ischemia and the subsequent cerebral ischemia-reperfusion (I/R) injury usually result in neuronal impairment with serious disabilities. Although neural stem cell (NSC) transplantation can help with functional recovery after stroke, due to the improper cellular milieu after brain injury, direct NSC transplantation will result low cell survival rates and differentiation efficiency into neurons. Here a conductive hybrid hydrogel based on gelatin methacryloyl (GelMA) and poly(3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene): poly (styrene sulfonate) (PEDOT:PSS) was created as a NSC niche for the treatment of cerebral I/R injury. GelMA/PEDOT:PSS hybrid hydrogel promoted the development of NSCs into neurons. GelMA/PEDOT:PSS hydrogel along with NSCs could enhance neuronal activity and minimize apoptosis when co-cultured with oxygen-glucose deprivation/reperfusion (OGD/R) neurons. Furthermore, after 7 days of implantation, GelMA/PEDOT:PSS/NSCs on the infarcted brain of rats subjected to reperfusion injury after middle cerebral artery occlusion (MCAO) was verified to attenuate inflammatory responses. These findings show that the conductive GelMA/PEDOT:PSS hybrid hydrogel could regulate NSC development and act as promising cell niches for the treatment of cerebral I/R injury.

Poly(3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene):polystyrene sulfonate (PEDOT:PSS) as an insulin carrier in silk fibroin hydrogels for transdermal delivery via iontophoresis

“…Relative to the case of pristine SF hydrogel, the addition of PEDOT:PSS provided only moderate increases in the amount of insulin released and the diffusion coefficient, and the decrease in the time to equilibrium. The PEDOT:PSS molecules incorporated into the SF hydrogels induced the partial matrix swelling, leading to higher mesh sizes consistent with the data, as tabulated in Table S4, † 77 whereas the effect of drug carrier host is not apparent here without the electric voltage.…”

“…The addition of PEDOT:PSS in the SF hydrogel produced larger pore sizes relative to the pristine SF hydrogel as PEDOT:PSS was miscible with and can be easily incorporated into the SF hydrogel, leading to an increase in the distance between crosslinked points and high mesh sizes. 77 At higher % w/v of SF in the PEDOT:PSS/SF hydrogels (Fig. 5a-c), the pore size decreased because of the denser crosslinking network.…”

Biofabrication methods for reconstructing extracellular matrix mimetics

“…7 a) [ 252 ]. Combining PEDOT:PSS with GelMA has offered Zhang et al a better alternative [ 286 ]. Their research study focused on the use of this hybrid hydrogel to treat ischemia-reperfusion injury.…”

Current progress and challenges in the development of brain tissue models: How to grow up the changeable brain in vitro?

“…As an example, substrates with the desired stiffness, permeability, degradability, compatibility, and dimensionality improve neural tissue engineering by providing appropriate electrical stimulation of cells, 276 , 277 promote recruitment, proliferation and differentiation of NSCs, 278 , 279 support controlled release of proneurogenic or proangiogenic factors, 271 protect the cells exposed to unfavorable in vitro conditions. 280 …”