Conducting scaffolds for liver tissue engineering

It is known that there is a correlation between a cell membrane potential and the proliferation of the cell. The high proliferation capacity of liver cells can also be attributed to its specific cell membrane potential as liver cell is recognized as one of the most depolarized of all differentiated cells. We hypothesized that this phenomenon can be emphasized by growing liver cells in conducting scaffolds that can increase the electrical communication among the cells. In this article, using tissue engineering techniques, we grew hepatocyte cells in scaffolds with various compositions. It was found that the scaffolds containing conducting polymer of poly (3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene) (PEDOT) provide the best condition for attachment and proliferation of the cells. More specifically, the blend of hyaluronan, PEDOT, and collagen (I) as dopants in gelatin-chitosan-based scaffold presented the best cell/scaffold interactions for regeneration of liver cells.