Electroactive Polymers for Tissue Regeneration: Developments and Perspectives

Overview

Journal Prog Polym Sci

Publisher Elsevier

Date 2018 Jul 10

PMID 29983457

Citations 78

Authors

Chengyun Ning

Zhengnan Zhou

Guoxin Tan

Ye Zhu

Chuanbin Mao

Affiliations

Soon will be listed here.

Abstract

Human body motion can generate a biological electric field and a current, creating a voltage gradient of -10 to -90 mV across cell membranes. In turn, this gradient triggers cells to transmit signals that alter cell proliferation and differentiation. Several cell types, counting osteoblasts, neurons and cardiomyocytes, are relatively sensitive to electrical signal stimulation. Employment of electrical signals in modulating cell proliferation and differentiation inspires us to use the electroactive polymers to achieve electrical stimulation for repairing impaired tissues. Electroactive polymers have found numerous applications in biomedicine due to their capability in effectively delivering electrical signals to the seeded cells, such as biosensing, tissue regeneration, drug delivery, and biomedical implants. Here we will summarize the electrical characteristics of electroactive polymers, which enables them to electrically influence cellular function and behavior, including conducting polymers, piezoelectric polymers, and polyelectrolyte gels. We will also discuss the biological response to these electroactive polymers under electrical stimulation. In particular, we focus this review on their applications in regenerating different tissues, including bone, nerve, heart muscle, cartilage and skin. Additionally, we discuss the challenges in tissue regeneration applications of electroactive polymers. We conclude that electroactive polymers have a great potential as regenerative biomaterials, due to their ability to stimulate desirable outcomes in various electrically responsive cells.

Citing Articles

Osteoblastic Differentiation of Human Adipose-Derived Mesenchymal Stem Cells on P3HT Thin Polymer Film.

Campione P, Rizzo M, Bauso L, Ielo I, Messina G, Calabrese G J Funct Biomater. 2025; 16(1).

PMID: 39852566 PMC: 11765816. DOI: 10.3390/jfb16010010.

Piezoelectric Scaffolds as Smart Materials for Bone Tissue Engineering.

Zaszczynska A, Zabielski K, Gradys A, Kowalczyk T, Sajkiewicz P Polymers (Basel). 2024; 16(19).

PMID: 39408507 PMC: 11479154. DOI: 10.3390/polym16192797.

Preparation and Structure-Property Relationship Study of Piezoelectric-Conductive Composite Polymer Nanofiber Materials for Bone Tissue Engineering.

Jin Z, Wei S, Jin W, Lu B, Xu Y Polymers (Basel). 2024; 16(13).

PMID: 39000807 PMC: 11244484. DOI: 10.3390/polym16131952.

Dynamic regulation of stem cell adhesion and differentiation on degradable piezoelectric poly (L-lactic acid) (PLLA) nanofibers.

Zhang Y, Chen S, Huang C, Dai Y, Zhu S, Wang R Biomed Eng Lett. 2024; 14(4):775-784.

PMID: 38946806 PMC: 11208363. DOI: 10.1007/s13534-024-00374-3.

3D-Printed Demineralized Bone Matrix-Based Conductive Scaffolds Combined with Electrical Stimulation for Bone Tissue Engineering Applications.

Dixon D, Landree E, Gomillion C ACS Appl Bio Mater. 2024; 7(7):4366-4378.

PMID: 38905196 PMC: 11253088. DOI: 10.1021/acsabm.4c00236.

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