Lisa Schöbel

PhD student

Development and Characterisation of Electrically Conductive Hydrogels for Tissue Engineering Applications

 

Supervisor: Prof. Dr.-Ing. habil. Aldo R. Boccaccini

It has been shown that cell growth and differentiation can be controlled by the use of conductive materials and, if necessary, electrical stimulation [1]. Biomaterials that provide electrical conductivity are especially of interest for applications in bone, cartilage or neural tissue engineering. The potential of ADA-GEL in tissue engineering and biofabrication was proven extensively in the past few years [2,3]. This project (B01), which belongs to the DFG Collaborative Research Center 1270 – Electrically Active Implants (ELAINE) led in its second funding period by the University of Rostock, aims to develop functional biomaterials based on an oxidized-alginate (ADA) and gelatin (GEL) hydrogel systems with tailorable conductivity. The first attempts to render ADA-GEL electrically conductive by a combination of in situ and interfacial polymerization with Polypyrrole (PPy) have shown promising results [4]. Therefore, this project strives towards developing further knowledge of electrically active hydrogel materials that could act as ECM-like matrices. Key collaborator in this project is Prof. Dr.-Ing. Hermann Seitz of the Institute of Fluid Technology and Microfluidics at the University of Rostock.

[1] Stewart, E. et al. “Electrical stimulation using conductive polymer polypyrrole promotes differentiation of human neural stem cells: a biocompatible platform for translational neural tissue engineering.” Tissue Engineering Part C: Methods 21.4 (2015): 385-393.

[2] Reakasame, S. and Boccaccini, A. R. (2018). Oxidized alginate-based hydrogels for tissue engineering applications: a review. Biomacromolecules, 19(1), 3-21.

[3] Sarker, B. et al. (2014). Evaluation of fibroblasts adhesion and proliferation on alginate-gelatin crosslinked hydrogel. PloS one, 9(9), e107952.

[4] Distler, T. et al. (2021). Electrically Conductive and 3D‐Printable Oxidized Alginate‐Gelatin Polypyrrole: PSS Hydrogels for Tissue Engineering. Advanced Healthcare Materials, 10(9), 2001876.