title: Development and characterization of novel electrically conductive PANI-PGS composites for cardiac tissue engineering applications.
abstract: Cardiovascular diseases, especially myocardial infarction, are the leading cause of morbidity and mortality in the world, also resulting in huge economic burdens on national economies. A cardiac patch strategy aims at regenerating an infarcted heart by providing healthy functional cells to the injured region via a carrier substrate, and providing mechanical support, thereby preventing deleterious ventricular remodeling. In the present work, polyaniline (PANI) was doped with camphorsulfonic acid and blended with poly(glycerol-sebacate) at ratios of 10, 20 and 30vol.% PANI content to produce electrically conductive composite cardiac patches via the solvent casting method. The composites were characterized in terms of their electrical, mechanical and physicochemical properties. The in vitro biodegradability of the composites was also evaluated. Electrical conductivity increased from 0Scm(-1) for pure PGS to 0.018Scm(-1) for 30vol.% PANI-PGS samples. Moreover, the conductivities were preserved for at least 100h post fabrication. Tensile tests revealed an improvement in the elastic modulus, tensile strength and elasticity with increasing PANI content. The degradation products caused a local drop in pH, which was higher in all composite samples compared with pure PGS, hinting at a buffering effect due to the presence of PANI. Finally, the cytocompatibility of the composites was confirmed when C2C12 cells attached and proliferated on samples with varying PANI content. Furthermore, leaching of acid dopants from the developed composites did not have any deleterious effect on the viability of C2C12 cells. Taken together, these results confirm the potential of PANI-PGS composites for use as substrates to modulate cellular behavior via electrical stimulation, and as biocompatible scaffolds for cardiac tissue engineering applications.
authors.affiliation: Institute of Biomaterials, Department of Materials Science and Engineering, University of Erlangen-Nuremberg, Cauerstr. 6, 91058 Erlangen, Germany.
authors.forename: Taimoor H
authors.initials: TH
authors.lastname: Qazi
authors.affiliation: Institute of Biomaterials, Department of Materials Science and Engineering, University of Erlangen-Nuremberg, Cauerstr. 6, 91058 Erlangen, Germany. Electronic address: ranjana.rai@ww.uni-erlangen.de.
authors.forename: Ranjana
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Rai
authors.affiliation: Institute of Biomaterials, Department of Materials Science and Engineering, University of Erlangen-Nuremberg, Cauerstr. 6, 91058 Erlangen, Germany.
authors.forename: Dirk
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Dippold
authors.affiliation: Institute of Polymer Materials, Department of Materials Science and Engineering, University of Erlangen-Nuremberg, 91058 Erlangen, Germany.
authors.forename: Judith E
authors.initials: JE
authors.lastname: Roether
authors.affiliation: Institute of Polymer Materials, Department of Materials Science and Engineering, University of Erlangen-Nuremberg, 91058 Erlangen, Germany.
authors.forename: Dirk W
authors.initials: DW
authors.lastname: Schubert
authors.affiliation: Department of Civil and Industrial Engineering, Largo Lucio Lazzarino, 56126 Pisa, Italy.
authors.forename: Elisabetta
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Rosellini
authors.affiliation: Department of Civil and Industrial Engineering, Largo Lucio Lazzarino, 56126 Pisa, Italy.
authors.forename: Niccoletta
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Barbani
authors.affiliation: Institute of Biomaterials, Department of Materials Science and Engineering, University of Erlangen-Nuremberg, Cauerstr. 6, 91058 Erlangen, Germany. Electronic address: aldo.boccaccini@ww.uni-erlangen.de.
authors.forename: Aldo R
authors.initials: AR
authors.lastname: Boccaccini
mesh_terms: D000814:Aniline Compounds / Q000737:chemistry*; D000818:Animals; D003651:Decanoates / Q000737:chemistry*; D004553:Electric Conductivity; D005990:Glycerol / Q000031:analogs & derivatives* / Q000737:chemistry; D006321:Heart; D008855:Microscopy, Electron, Scanning; D011108:Polymers / Q000737:chemistry*; D051381:Rats; D017550:Spectroscopy, Fourier Transform Infrared; D023822:Tissue Engineering
chemical_list: D000814:Aniline Compounds; D003651:Decanoates; D011108:Polymers; C469892:poly(glycerol-sebacate); C416807:polyaniline; D005990:Glycerol
keywords: Biocompatibility; Cardiac patch; Conductive composite; Poly(glycerol-sebacate); Polyaniline