Hostname: page-component-84b7d79bbc-g5fl4 Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-07-27T21:28:47.273Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Encapsulation of Neural Cells in Nano-Featured Polymer Scaffolds through Co-axial Electrospinning

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  01 February 2011

Rajesh A Pareta  and
Thomas J Webster
Rajesh A Pareta
Affiliation:
rajesh_pareta@brown.edu, Brown University, Division of Engineering, 182 HOPE STREET, Providence, RI, 02912, United States, 401-863-1419
Thomas J Webster
Affiliation:
thomas_webster@brown.edu, Brown University, Division of Engineering and Orthopedics, 182 Hope Street, Providence, RI, 02912, United States
Get access

Abstract

Encapsulation of PC12 cells (neural cell model) in alginate hydrogels with a protective coating of poly(lactic-co-glycolic acid) (PLGA) was achieved in the present study using co-axial electrospinning. Co-axial electrospinning consists of two concentric capillaries compared to only one capillary in conventional electrospinning. This allows for the processing of two liquid solutions simultaneously. Neural cells suspended in hydrogels were injected in the inner capillary, while the carbon nanotubes (added for conductivity) suspended in PLGA were injected in the outer capillary at controlled flow rates. On the application of a high voltage, a compound jet formed at the capillary exits and resulted in a co-electrospun fiber of nerve cells encapsulated in PLGA with carbon nanotubes. Carbon nanotubes were included to make the outer shell conductive to stimulate the PC12 cells. In this study, the voltage varied from 0 to 15 kV and various flow rates were tested to achieve a stable cone-jet mode in electrospinning. The cell density in the media varied from 0.5 to5 million cells/ml and the polymer solution (PLGA) concentration varied from 1 to 10 mg/ml. This resulted in a three dimensional conductive scaffold with nano-features (due to carbon nanotubes) on the polymer surface, which were collected on the grounded substrate. PC12 cells were found to be viable inside microspheres after 3 days. The size of the microspheres was quite uniform and less than 200 μm. This technique may be very useful for the development of cell encapsulated scaffolds which mimic natural body tissue organization for tissue engineering applications such as nervous system regeneration.

Keywords

biomaterialbiomedicaltissue
Type
Research Article
Information
MRS Online Proceedings Library (OPL) , Volume 1065: Symposium QQ – Electroactive and Conductive Polymers and Carbon Nanotubes for Biomedical Applications , 2007 , 1065-QQ04-10
Copyright
Copyright © Materials Research Society 2008

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

REFERENCES

[1] Dove, A., “Cell-based therapies go live,” Nature Biotechnology, Vol. 20, pp. 339–343, 2002.Google Scholar
[2] Wang, W., Liu, X. D., Xie, Y. B., Zhang, H. A., Yu, W. T., Xiong, Y., Wang, W., and Ma, X. J., “Microencapsulation using natural polysaccharides for drug delivery and cell implantation,” Journal of Materials Chemistry Vol. 16, pp. 3252–3267, 2006.Google Scholar
[3] Orive, G., Hernández, R. M., Gascón, A. R., Calafiore, R., Chang, T. M. S., and Vos, P. D., “Cell encapsulation: promise and progress,” Nature Medicine, Vol. 9, pp. 104–107, 2003.Google Scholar
[4] Chang, T. M. S., “The therapeutic applications of polymeric artificial cells,” Nature Reviews Drug Discovery, Vol. 4, pp. 221–235, 2005.Google Scholar
[5] Soon-Shiong, P., Heintz, R. E., Merideth, N., Yao, Q. X., Yao, Z., Zheng, T., Murphy, M., Moloney, M. K., Schmehl, M., Harris, M., Mendez, R., Mendez, R., and Sandford, P. A., “Insulin independence in a type 1 diabetic patient after encapsulated islet transplantation,” Lancet, Vol. 343, pp. 950–951, 1994.Google Scholar
[6] Vos, P. d., Hoogmoed, C. G. v., Zanten, J. v., Netter, S., Strubbe, J. H., and Busscher, H. J., “Long-term biocompatibility, chemistry, and function of microencapsulated pancreatic islets,” Biomaterials, Vol. 24, pp. 305–312, 2003.Google Scholar
[7] Lim, F. and Sun, A. M., “Microencapsulated islets as bioartifical endocrine pancreas,” Science, Vol. 210, pp. 908–910, 1980.Google Scholar
[8] Joki, T., Machluf, M., Atala, A., Zhu, J., Seyfried, N. T., Dunn, I. F., Abe, T., Carroll, R. S., and Black, P. M., “Continuous release of endostatin from microencapsulated engineered cells for tumor therapy,” Nature Biotechnology, Vol. 19, pp. 35–39, 2001.Google Scholar
[9] Simpson, N. E., Grant, S. C., Blackband, S. J., and Constrantinidis, I., “NMR properties of alginate microbeads,” Biomaterials, Vol. 24, pp. 4941–4948, 2003.Google Scholar
[10] Iwata, H., Takagi, T., Shimizu, H., Yamashita, K., Kobayashi, K., and Akutsu, T., “Agarose for bioartificial pancreas,” Journal of Biomedical Materials Research, Vol. 26, pp. 967–977, 1992.Google Scholar
[11] Ijsebaert, J. C., Geerse, K. B., Marijnissen, J. C. M., Lammers, J. J., and Zanen, P., “Electro-hydrodynamic atomization of drug solutions for inhalation purposes,” Journal of Applied Physiology Vol. 91, pp. 2735–2741, 2001.Google Scholar
[12] Pareta, R., Brindley, A., Edirisinghe, M. J., Jayasinghe, S. N., and Luklinska, Z., “Electrohydrodynamic atomization of protein (bovine serum albumin),” Journal of Materials Science: Materials in Medicine, Vol. 16, pp. 919–925, 2005.Google Scholar
[13] Loscertales, I. G., Barrero, A., Guerrero, I., Cortijo, R., Marquez, M., and Ganan-Calvo, A. M., “Micro/nano encapsulation via electrified coaxial liquid jets,” Science, Vol. 295, pp. 1695–1698, 2002.Google Scholar
[14] Tang, K. and Gomez, A., “Generation by electrospray of monodisperse water droplets for targeted drug delivery by inhalation,” Journal of Aerosol Science, Vol. 25, pp. 1237–1249, 1994.Google Scholar
[15] Zhou, Y., Sun, T., Chan, M., Zhang, J., Han, Z., Wang, X., Toh, Y., Chen, J. P., and Yu, H., “Scalable encapsulation of hepatocytes by electrostatic spraying,” Journal of Biotechnology Vol. 117, pp. 99–109, 2005.Google Scholar