Multifunctional Silk Fibroin/Carbon Nanofiber Scaffolds for In Vitro Cardiomyogenic Differentiation of Induced Pluripotent Stem Cells and Energy Harvesting from Simulated Cardiac Motion
ACS Applied Materials and Interfaces, vol.15, no.36, pp.42271-42283, 2023 (SCI-Expanded, Scopus)
- Publication Type: Article / Article
- Volume: 15 Issue: 36
- Publication Date: 2023
- Doi Number: 10.1021/acsami.3c08601
- Journal Name: ACS Applied Materials and Interfaces
- Journal Indexes: Science Citation Index Expanded (SCI-EXPANDED), Scopus, Chemical Abstracts Core, Compendex, EMBASE, INSPEC, MEDLINE
- Page Numbers: pp.42271-42283
- Keywords: cardiac patch, enzymatic degradation, silk fibroin, stem cell, triboelectric nanogenerators
- Middle East Technical University Affiliated: Yes
Abstract
In this proof-of-concept study, cardiomyogenic differentiation of induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs) is combined with energy harvesting from simulated cardiac motion in vitro. To achieve this, silk fibroin (SF)-based porous scaffolds are designed to mimic the mechanical and physical properties of cardiac tissue and used as triboelectric nanogenerator (TENG) electrodes. The load-carrying mechanism, β-sheet content, degradation characteristics, and iPSC interactions of the scaffolds are observed to be interrelated and regulated by their pore architecture. The SF scaffolds with a pore size of 379 ± 34 μm, a porosity of 79 ± 1%, and a pore interconnectivity of 67 ± 1% upregulated the expression of cardiac-specific gene markers TNNT2 and NKX2.5 from iPSCs. Incorporating carbon nanofibers (CNFs) enhances the elastic modulus of the scaffolds to 45 ± 3 kPa and results in an electrical conductivity of 0.021 ± 0.006 S/cm. The SF and SF/CNF scaffolds are used as conjugate TENG electrodes and generate a maximum power output of 0.37 × 10-3 mW/m2, with an open-circuit voltage and a short circuit current of 0.46 V and 4.5 nA, respectively, under simulated cardiac motion. A novel approach is demonstrated for fabricating scaffold-based cardiac patches that can serve as tissue scaffolds and simultaneously allow energy harvesting.