title: The electrically conductive scaffold as the skeleton of stem cell niche in regenerative medicine.
abstract: Stem cells with multipotent and self-renewal abilities play a vital role in regenerative medicine and tissue engineering. They can assist tissue reconstruction through specific differentiation and secretion of various bioactive macromolecules. More and more studies confirm that the cell-fate commitment can be manipulated via constructing a specific stem cell niche. The construction of specific niches with conductive materials (conducting polymers, carbon nanotubes and graphene) can promote stem cell differentiation towards electro-active lineages and emphasize the promising role of stem cells in electro-active tissue regeneration (e.g., nerve and heart). In this review, we summarize the commonly applied conductive materials for scaffold construction and evaluate their contributions in the regeneration of electro-active tissues.
authors.affiliation: Institute of Materials Research and Engineering, Agency for Science, Technology and Research (A*STAR), 3 Research Link, 117602, Singapore.
authors.forename: Guorui
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Jin
authors.affiliation: Institute of Materials Research and Engineering, Agency for Science, Technology and Research (A*STAR), 3 Research Link, 117602, Singapore. Electronic address: lik@imre.a-star.edu.sg.
authors.forename: Kai
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Li
mesh_terms: D004553:Electric Conductivity; D006108:Graphite / Q000737:chemistry; D006801:Humans; D037742:Nanotubes, Carbon / Q000737:chemistry; D011108:Polymers / Q000737:chemistry; D044968:Regenerative Medicine; D055153:Stem Cell Niche; D013234:Stem Cells / Q000166:cytology*; D023822:Tissue Engineering; D054457:Tissue Scaffolds
chemical_list: D037742:Nanotubes, Carbon; D011108:Polymers; D006108:Graphite
keywords: Conductive scaffold; Stem cell niche