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Effect of aerogel’s topography and surface roughness on neurite extension in the presence and absence of applied DC bias.

ORAL

Abstract

Aerogels have been studied for their biomedical applications including drug delivery, regenerative medicine, wound healing, and biosensing. Previous work from this group has shown the suitability of aerogels as neuronal scaffolds. Aerogel’s inherent 3-D structure offers an advantage over other biocompatible substrates that lack the dimensionality needed to mimic the in vitro topography of tissues. It has also been shown that cell behavior is strongly influenced by external factors including the surface topography, stiffness, and electric fields. Here, the authors studied these effects by using aerogels as scaffolds for PC-12 cells, a neuronal analogue. Surface roughness ranged from 0 to 3 μm and stiffness 10 kPa – 4 MPa. Applied DC bias was investigated in both conductive and insulating aerogel types. This investigation reveals what the optimal substrate features for neurite extension are and the significance of these findings to optimize materials for nerve repair is discussed.

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Publication: [1] M. R. Sala, O. Skalli, and F. Sabri, "Optimal structural and physical properties of aerogels for promoting robust neurite extension in vitro," Biomaterials Advances, vol. 135, p. 112682, 2022, doi: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.msec.2022.112682.<br>[2] M. Rodriguez Sala, S. Chandrasekaran, O. Skalli, M. Worsley, and F. Sabri, "Enhanced neurite outgrowth on electrically conductive carbon aerogel substrates in the presence of an external electric field," Soft Matter, vol. 17, no. 17, pp. 4489–4495, 2021, doi: 10.1039/D1SM00183C.<br>[3] M. R. Sala, O. Skalli, N. Leventis, and F. Sabri, "Nerve response to superelastic shape memory polyurethane aerogels," Polymers (Basel), vol. 12, no. 12, 2020, doi: 10.3390/polym12122995.<br>[4] M. Rodriguez Sala, C. Peng, O. Skalli, and F. Sabri, "Tunable neuronal scaffold biomaterials through plasmonic photo-patterning of aerogels," MRS Commun, vol. 9, no. 4, pp. 1249–1255, 2019, doi: 10.1557/mrc.2019.143.<br>[5] K. Lynch, O. Skalli, and F. Sabri, "Growing Neural PC-12 Cell on Crosslinked Silica Aerogels Increases Neurite Extension in the Presence of an Electric Field," J Funct Biomater, vol. 9, no. 2, p. 30, Apr. 2018, doi: 10.3390/jfb9020030.<br>[6] K. J. Lynch, O. Skalli, and F. Sabri, "Investigation of surface topography and stiffness on adhesion and neurites extension of PC12 cells on crosslinked silica aerogel substrates," PLoS One, vol. 12, no. 10, Oct. 2017, doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0185978.<br> <br>

Presenters

  • Martina Rodriguez Sala

    The University of Memphis

Authors

  • Martina Rodriguez Sala

    The University of Memphis

  • Firouzeh Sabri

    University of Memphis