Electrospinning Device: Conductive polypyrrole-encapsulated silk fibers for cardiac tissue engineering

Background

Electrospinning technology is widely used in regenerative medicine because of its advantages such as its ability to mimic the natural structure of the extracellular matrix. This technology can produce nanofibers with high porosity and high specific surface area, which are properties that help cells attach, proliferate and differentiate.

Properties of PPy-encapsulated SF nanofibers

PPy-encapsulated SF nanofibers prepared by electrospinning technology have good cell compatibility and can be used as tissue engineering scaffolds. The diameter of these nanofibers is reduced, closer to myocardial fibrils, which helps to simulate the cardiac microenvironment.

Effect of PPy on nanofiber diameter and mechanical properties

The addition of PPy reduced the fiber diameter, and the conductive pad containing 7% SF showed the closest mechanical properties to native myocardium. This suggests that the addition of PPy can improve the mechanical properties of nanofibers, making them more suitable as scaffold materials for cardiac tissue engineering.

Conductivity of PPy-encapsulated SF nanofibers

The conductivity of PPy-SF fibers is within the range of native myocardium, which is particularly important for cardiac tissue engineering because myocardial cells require electrical signals to coordinate contraction.

Electrospinning technology and cell orientation and contraction synchronization

Electrospinning technology can prepare oriented nanofibers, which promote cell adhesion and migration through contact guidance, and the combination with cells or growth factors can further promote cell proliferation and differentiation, and finally achieve tissue regeneration. PPy-encapsulated SF nanofibers can induce directional arrangement of cardiomyocytes and enhance contraction function, and external stimulation further improves contraction synchronization.

Potential of electrospinning technology in cardiac tissue engineering

Nanofiber scaffolds prepared by electrospinning technology have shown great application potential and broad application prospects in the fields of nerve, myocardium, tendon, bone tissue regeneration and wound healing. As an electroactive scaffold, PPy-encapsulated SF nanofibers show great potential in cardiac tissue generation.

Future research directions of electrospinning technology

The clinical application of electrospinning technology in the biomedical field still needs further research, especially in in vivo research. The goal of future work is to apply PPy-encapsulated SF nanofibers to in vivo research and combine vascularization strategies to further increase the thickness of engineered cardiac tissue.

Conclusion

In summary, PPy-encapsulated SF nanofibers prepared by electrospinning technology showed excellent biocompatibility, biodegradability, antibacterial properties, antioxidant capacity and ability to promote cell migration in cardiac tissue engineering. These properties make it a promising scaffold material for cardiac tissue engineering.

Electrospinning Nanofibers Article Source:

https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0142961221003641