Research Article Open Access Journal of Nanomedicine & Nanotechnology J o u r na l o f N a n o m e d i c i n e & N a n o t e c h n o l o g y ISSN: 2157-7439 Al Habis et al., J Nanomed Nanotechnol 2018, 9:2 DOI: 10.4172/2157-7439.1000493 J Nanomed Nanotechnol, an open access journal ISSN: 2157-7439 Volume 9 • Issue 2 • 1000493 Enhancing the Cell Growth Using Conductive Scaffolds Nuha Al Habis 1 *, Lafdi K 1 , Tsonis PA 2 and Rio-Tsonis KD 3 1 Department of Materials Engineering, University of Dayton, 300 College Park, Dayton, Ohio 45440, USA 2 Department of Biology, Center for Tissue Regeneration and Engineering, University of Dayton, Dayton, Ohio 45469, USA 3 Department of Biology, Center for Visual Sciences, Miami University, Oxford, Ohio 45056, USA *Corresponding author: Nuha Al Habis, Department of Materials Engineering, University of Dayton, 300 College Park, Dayton, Ohio 45440, USA, Tel: 937-229- 1000; E-mail: alhabisn1@gmail.com Received: March 25, 2018; Accepted: April 03, 2018; Published: April 06, 2018 Citation: Al Habis N, Lafdi K, Tsonis PA, Rio-Tsonis KD (2018) Enhancing the Cell Growth Using Conductive Scaffolds. J Nanomed Nanotechnol 9: 493. doi: 10.4172/2157-7439.1000493 Copyright: © 2018 Al Habis N, et al. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited. Keywords: Carbon nano-additives; Electrical properties of nano- additives; Conductive scafold; Cell density Introduction Scafolds were generated as substrate structures for tissue repair and regeneration [1,2]. Scafolds can be formed by utilizing biopolymers, conductive materials and polymer-based additives which can provide additional features such as surface, mechanical and electrical properties. Synthetic polymers are commonly used for the fabrication of nanofber scafolds. In this study, we explored their use as biodegradable materials for scafolds. Tese include poly (lactic acid) (PLA), poly (lactic-co-glycolic acid) (PLGA), Polycaprolactone (PCL), poly (methyl methacrylate) (PMMA), polyglycolic acid (PGA), and polyvinyl alcohol (PVA). Polymer scafolds can be combined with growth factors. Tese polymer scafolds have been used for numerous applications, including regeneration of blood vessels (i.e. coronary arteries), bone, skin, cartilage, as well as to enhance cell proliferation and diferentiation [3-5]. Another material that has shown rapid expansion among biocompatible scafolds are electroactive materials. Tese materials hold a great promise for cell growth and tissue repair. Conductive scafolds have been considered suitable substrates for cell proliferation and cell attachment [6], and they enhanced the efect of electrical signals on cell activities [7,8]. For instance, when biocompatible polypyrrole (PPY) flm was applied to rat bone marrow stromal cells in culture, the electron mobility, electrical conductivity and calcium deposition into the extracellular matrix increased due to the highly-branched PPy chains of the flm [9]. Furthermore, the electroactive and biodegradable blend polymer (PLLA/ PGTA) was able to diferentiate rat C6 glioma cells rapidly [10]. Finally, carbon nano-fllers have a broad range of usage in biological applications as scafolds [11,12] to enhance cell diferentiation [13,14] due to their compatibility and electrical and mechanical properties [15,16]. Tese fllers, in particular, carbon black (CB), carbon nanofber (CNF) and graphene, have a variety of characteristics that rely on their crystal structure and geometrical confguration [17]. CB is extensively used as a fller in elastomers, plastic and paints to modify the mechanical, electrical and the optical properties of the materials [18]. CB has a spherical particle form, obtained by the partial combustion or thermal decomposition of hydrocarbons [19]. It has a large surface area and an aggregate dimension that ranges from tens of nanometers to a few hundred nanometers. When added to another component, it imparts its distinctive features to improve the mechanical and electrical properties of the nanocomposite [20]. In addition, CNF can be primarily fabricated by catalytically vaporizing deposition growth and electrospinning approaches [21]. CNF has a cylindrical nanostructure with a high aspect ratio, excellent thermal conductivity, mechanical, and electrical properties which used as additives in various structural materials. Te potential of using carbon-based nanofbers as reinforcement was realized in the 1980s [22-25]. Te most reliable fller is graphene which consists of interconnected hexagon carbon atoms and forms lamella. Rolling graphene structures carbon nanotubes along certain axes which allow graphene to be structurally linked to many carbon allotropes [26]. In the last ten years, graphene has been one of the most studied materials due to its unique electrical, optical, and mechanical properties as well as for its potential applications [27]. Graphene can be prepared by exfoliation, epitaxial growth and chemical vapor deposition methods [28]. PCL nanocomposite based carbon nano-fllers were fabricated by using electrospinning and spin coating techniques. It is known that electrospinning can improve cell proliferation. Yang et al. studied the behavior of neural stem cells (NSC) with an aligned electrospun nanofber scafold of poly (l-lactic acid) (PLLA). Te results showed that the direction of PLLA fbers had a parallel control on the direction of NSC elongation and their neurite outgrowth [29]. Furthermore, to understand the behavior and interaction of cells with scafolds, the orientation and alignment of the scafold morphology were studied. For example, Sharma et al. achieved a signifcant efect of 80% elongation of cells on the scafold by using micropatterned polymeric flms [30]. Moreover, directed axonal and nerve regeneration has been promoted Abstract Conductive biopolymers are starting to emerge as potential scaffolds of the future. These scaffolds exhibit some unique properties such as inherent conductivity, mechanical and surface properties. In this paper, Bio-conductive material were made using three types of carbon nano-fllers including carbon black, nanofber and graphene. These were mixed with polycaprolactone to fabricate various scaffolds. A human lens epithelial cell was seeded on top of these scaffolds to assay the cell growth. The study of cell growth as a function of concentration, type and orientation of nano- fllers and their conductivities was investigated. We found that these biopolymer nanocomposites have a positive effect on cell density. Regardless of the scaffold shape (flm or fber) and the additive’s type, when the concentration of nano- additives increased, the electrical conductivity and cell density also increased. For a given nano-additive concentration and type, cell density seems to be higher in scaffolds with fber shape vs. the flm shape. However, as the conductivity of the nano-additives increased, so did cell density.