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Abstract
Background & aim: Carbon nanotubes (CNTs) are a promising material for implantation due to the fact that CNTs are conductive and have nanostructured dimensions that mimic the 3D structure of proteins found in extracellular matrices. We have investigated whether the CNTs interact with various types of stem cells and either selectively enhance survival of stem cells or not. Materials & methods: CNTs used in the experiments are aligned with polycarbonate urethane. Experiments were carried out using mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) and cortical derived neurospheres. Immunocytochemistry and scanning electron microscopic analysis were performed for determining the favorable surface material (either CNT or polycarbonate urethane array) for cell survival. Results: It was demonstrated that the MSCs and the neurosphere of cortex-derived neural stem cells (NSCs) grew on the CNT array and both MSCs and NSCs interacted with the aligned CNTs. The results suggest that CNTs assist in the proliferation of MSCs and aid differentiation of cortex-derived NSCs. Conclusion: CNTs may be a novel biocompatible nanophase material with the potential for aiding neuron differentiation.
Financial & competing interests disclosure
This work was supported by the Korea Research Foundation Grant funded by the Korean Government (MOEHRD, Basic Research Promotion Fund; KRF-2007–531-E00003), and also by the ‘System IC2010’ project of Korean Ministry of Commerce Industry and Energy. We appreciate Bokara Kiran Kumar (help in writing this paper) and the kind gifts of mesenchymal stem cells from Jin-su Oh, Department of Neurosurgery, Yonsei University, Korea. The authors have no other relevant affiliations or financial involvement with any organization or entity with a financial interest in or financial conflict with the subject matter or materials discussed in the manuscript apart from those disclosed.
No writing assistance was utilized in the production of this manuscript.
Ethical conduct of research
The authors state that they have obtained appropriate institutional review board approval or have followed the principles outlined in the Declaration of Helsinki for all human or animal experimental investigations. In addition, for investigations involving human subjects, informed consent has been obtained from the participants involved.