Paper Title
Graphene-Functionalized Three-Dimensional Scaffolds Effective for Skeletal Myoblast Growth
Abstract
There have been tremendous efforts to develop tissue engineering scaffolds for promoting cellular behaviors, including cell adhesion, growth, migration, and differentiation. In particular, three-dimensional (3D) scaffolds have attracted a great attention because cellular behaviors are directly dependent on the dimensional features of scaffolds. On the other hand, graphene and its derivatives have recently been proposed as novel nanobiomaterials for biomedical applications because of their good biocompatibility and outstanding bioactivity. Herein, we prepared two types of graphene-functionalized 3D scaffolds for promoting skeletal myoblast growth, and explored their potentials for applications to 3D tissue engineering scaffolds. We fabricated graphene oxide (GO)-functionalized polyurethane foams (GO-PFs) and GO-incorporated gelatin-based hydrogels (GO-GHs). In addition, C2C12 skeletal myoblasts were cultured within the scaffolds, and their behaviors were investigated. Our results showed that the GO-PFs and GO-GHs have a suitable 3D structure, and can promote skeletal myoblast growth. Therefore, it is suggested that the GO-PFs and GO-GHs are highly effective for skeletal myoblast growth, and can be employed as 3D tissue engineering scaffolds.
Index Terms - Tissue engineering, Three dimensional scaffolds, Graphene oxide, Skeletal myoblast