Electrical Stimulation Promotes Stem Cell Neural Differentiation in Tissue Engineering

Nerve injuries and neurodegenerative disorders remain serious challenges, owing to the poor treatment outcomes of in situ neural stem cell regeneration. The most promising treatment for such injuries and disorders is stem cell-based therapies, but there remain obstacles in controlling the differenti...

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Main Authors: Hong Cheng, Yan Huang, Hangqi Yue, Yubo Fan
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Wiley 2021-01-01
Series:Stem Cells International
Online Access:http://dx.doi.org/10.1155/2021/6697574
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author Hong Cheng
Yan Huang
Hangqi Yue
Yubo Fan
author_facet Hong Cheng
Yan Huang
Hangqi Yue
Yubo Fan
author_sort Hong Cheng
collection DOAJ
description Nerve injuries and neurodegenerative disorders remain serious challenges, owing to the poor treatment outcomes of in situ neural stem cell regeneration. The most promising treatment for such injuries and disorders is stem cell-based therapies, but there remain obstacles in controlling the differentiation of stem cells into fully functional neuronal cells. Various biochemical and physical approaches have been explored to improve stem cell-based neural tissue engineering, among which electrical stimulation has been validated as a promising one both in vitro and in vivo. Here, we summarize the most basic waveforms of electrical stimulation and the conductive materials used for the fabrication of electroactive substrates or scaffolds in neural tissue engineering. Various intensities and patterns of electrical current result in different biological effects, such as enhancing the proliferation, migration, and differentiation of stem cells into neural cells. Moreover, conductive materials can be used in delivering electrical stimulation to manipulate the migration and differentiation of stem cells and the outgrowth of neurites on two- and three-dimensional scaffolds. Finally, we also discuss the possible mechanisms in enhancing stem cell neural differentiation using electrical stimulation. We believe that stem cell-based therapies using biocompatible conductive scaffolds under electrical stimulation and biochemical induction are promising for neural regeneration.
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institution DOAJ
issn 1687-966X
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language English
publishDate 2021-01-01
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spelling doaj-art-3d095a2fc2dd4d0cac8c7f3c7c97cee52025-08-20T02:39:11ZengWileyStem Cells International1687-966X1687-96782021-01-01202110.1155/2021/66975746697574Electrical Stimulation Promotes Stem Cell Neural Differentiation in Tissue EngineeringHong Cheng0Yan Huang1Hangqi Yue2Yubo Fan3Beijing Advanced Innovation Center for Biomedical Engineering, Key Laboratory for Biomechanics and Mechanobiology of Chinese Education Ministry, School of Biological Science and Medical Engineering, Beihang University, No. 37, Xueyuan Road, Haidian District, Beijing 100083, ChinaBeijing Advanced Innovation Center for Biomedical Engineering, Key Laboratory for Biomechanics and Mechanobiology of Chinese Education Ministry, School of Biological Science and Medical Engineering, Beihang University, No. 37, Xueyuan Road, Haidian District, Beijing 100083, ChinaBeijing Advanced Innovation Center for Biomedical Engineering, Key Laboratory for Biomechanics and Mechanobiology of Chinese Education Ministry, School of Biological Science and Medical Engineering, Beihang University, No. 37, Xueyuan Road, Haidian District, Beijing 100083, ChinaBeijing Advanced Innovation Center for Biomedical Engineering, Key Laboratory for Biomechanics and Mechanobiology of Chinese Education Ministry, School of Biological Science and Medical Engineering, Beihang University, No. 37, Xueyuan Road, Haidian District, Beijing 100083, ChinaNerve injuries and neurodegenerative disorders remain serious challenges, owing to the poor treatment outcomes of in situ neural stem cell regeneration. The most promising treatment for such injuries and disorders is stem cell-based therapies, but there remain obstacles in controlling the differentiation of stem cells into fully functional neuronal cells. Various biochemical and physical approaches have been explored to improve stem cell-based neural tissue engineering, among which electrical stimulation has been validated as a promising one both in vitro and in vivo. Here, we summarize the most basic waveforms of electrical stimulation and the conductive materials used for the fabrication of electroactive substrates or scaffolds in neural tissue engineering. Various intensities and patterns of electrical current result in different biological effects, such as enhancing the proliferation, migration, and differentiation of stem cells into neural cells. Moreover, conductive materials can be used in delivering electrical stimulation to manipulate the migration and differentiation of stem cells and the outgrowth of neurites on two- and three-dimensional scaffolds. Finally, we also discuss the possible mechanisms in enhancing stem cell neural differentiation using electrical stimulation. We believe that stem cell-based therapies using biocompatible conductive scaffolds under electrical stimulation and biochemical induction are promising for neural regeneration.http://dx.doi.org/10.1155/2021/6697574
spellingShingle Hong Cheng
Yan Huang
Hangqi Yue
Yubo Fan
Electrical Stimulation Promotes Stem Cell Neural Differentiation in Tissue Engineering
Stem Cells International
title Electrical Stimulation Promotes Stem Cell Neural Differentiation in Tissue Engineering
title_full Electrical Stimulation Promotes Stem Cell Neural Differentiation in Tissue Engineering
title_fullStr Electrical Stimulation Promotes Stem Cell Neural Differentiation in Tissue Engineering
title_full_unstemmed Electrical Stimulation Promotes Stem Cell Neural Differentiation in Tissue Engineering
title_short Electrical Stimulation Promotes Stem Cell Neural Differentiation in Tissue Engineering
title_sort electrical stimulation promotes stem cell neural differentiation in tissue engineering
url http://dx.doi.org/10.1155/2021/6697574
work_keys_str_mv AT hongcheng electricalstimulationpromotesstemcellneuraldifferentiationintissueengineering
AT yanhuang electricalstimulationpromotesstemcellneuraldifferentiationintissueengineering
AT hangqiyue electricalstimulationpromotesstemcellneuraldifferentiationintissueengineering
AT yubofan electricalstimulationpromotesstemcellneuraldifferentiationintissueengineering