Polymers 2011, 3(1), 527-544; doi:10.3390/polym3010527
Article

A 3D Electroactive Polypyrrole-Collagen Fibrous Scaffold for Tissue Engineering

Soh-Zeom Yow 1 email, Tze Han Lim 2 email, Evelyn K. F. Yim 3,4,5 email, Chwee Teck Lim 3,4,6 email and Kam W. Leong 2,7,* email
1 Graduate Program in Bioengineering, Yong Loo Lin School of Medicine, National University of Singapore, 28 Medical Drive, Singapore 117456, Singapore 2 Duke-NUS Graduate Medical School Singapore, 2 Jalan Bukit Merah, Singapore 169547, Singapore 3 Division of Bioengineering, National University of Singapore, 9 Engineering Drive 1, Singapore 117576, Singapore 4 Mechanobiology Institute, National University of Singapore, T-Lab, #05-01, 5A Engineering Drive 1, Singapore 117411, Singapore 5 Department of Surgery, Yong Loo Lin School of Medicine, National University of Singapore, 1E Kent Ridge Road, Singapore 119228, Singapore 6 Department of Mechanical Engineering, National University of Singapore, 9 Engineering Drive 1, Singapore 117576, Singapore 7 Department of Biomedical Engineering, Duke University, Durham, NC 27708, USA
* Author to whom correspondence should be addressed.
Received: 5 January 2011; in revised form: 6 February 2011 / Accepted: 24 February 2011 / Published: 28 February 2011
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Biofunctional Polymers for Medical Applications)
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Abstract: Fibers that can provide topographical, biochemical and electrical cues would be attractive for directing the differentiation of stem cells into electro-responsive cells such as neuronal or muscular cells. Here we report on the fabrication of polypyrrole-incorporated collagen-based fibers via interfacial polyelectrolyte complexation (IPC). The mean ultimate tensile strength of the fibers is 304.0 ± 61.0 MPa and the Young’s Modulus is 10.4 ± 4.3 GPa. Human bone marrow-derived mesenchymal stem cells (hMSCs) are cultured on the fibers in a proliferating medium and stimulated with an external electrical pulse generator for 5 and 10 days. The effects of polypyrrole in the fiber system can be observed, with hMSCs adopting a neuronal-like morphology at day 10, and through the upregulation of neural markers, such as noggin, MAP2, neurofilament, β tubulin III and nestin. This study demonstrates the potential of this fiber system as an attractive 3D scaffold for tissue engineering, where collagen is present on the fiber surface for cellular adhesion, and polypyrrole is encapsulated within the fiber for enhanced electrical communication in cell-substrate and cell-cell interactions.
Keywords: polypyrrole; collagen; electrical stimulation; mesenchymal stem cells; fibrous scaffold; electroactive scaffold

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Cite This Article

MDPI and ACS Style

Yow, S.-Z.; Lim, T.H.; Yim, E.K.F.; Lim, C.T.; Leong, K.W. A 3D Electroactive Polypyrrole-Collagen Fibrous Scaffold for Tissue Engineering. Polymers 2011, 3, 527-544.

AMA Style

Yow S-Z, Lim TH, Yim EKF, Lim CT, Leong KW. A 3D Electroactive Polypyrrole-Collagen Fibrous Scaffold for Tissue Engineering. Polymers. 2011; 3(1):527-544.

Chicago/Turabian Style

Yow, Soh-Zeom; Lim, Tze Han; Yim, Evelyn K. F.; Lim, Chwee Teck; Leong, Kam W. 2011. "A 3D Electroactive Polypyrrole-Collagen Fibrous Scaffold for Tissue Engineering." Polymers 3, no. 1: 527-544.

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