Abstract
There is an increasing need for biocompatible neural cell regeneration scaffolds as regeneration of the neurite structures is slow and complex, which results in permanent neural cell damage. In recent years, there has been growing research regarding implementing nanotube arrays or electrical stimulation protocols to existing neural cell culture practices, however, there has still yet to be an approach that combines both methods together. This project will evaluate the ability of a semi-conductive peptide-based nanotube array along with an electrical stimulation protocol to increase the proliferation and differentiation of neural progenitor cells. Peptide-based building blocks containing aromatic amino acids that can self-assemble to form highly organized nanoscale structures, in this case tryptophan and tyrosine, are sought after due to their inherent properties such as biocompatibility, high aspect ratios, semi-conductivity, and stiffness. Electrical stimulation, on the other hand, has shown the ability to induce the depolarization of the plasma membrane of nerve cells, as well as affect the function of membrane proteins, including enzyme activity and ion-transporting channels. Highly reactive molecules produced during this interaction act as an intermediate signal transducer between neural cells for the purpose of cell differentiation. These techniques in conjunction with one another should allow for the individual electrical stimulation of neural cells, resulting in positive morphology changes and increased intra-cellular communication. To evaluate the effectiveness of this approach, MTT cytotoxicity studies were performed followed by morphological cellular interaction imaging through SEM. Additionally, confocal imaging, dopamine-enzyme linked immunosorbent assays, immunostaining for neuronal markers, and real-time polymerase chain reaction (q-PCR) for gene expression will be carried out on the neural progenitor cells cultured on the synthesized peptide arrays.