Partner: Valentina Grippo


Recent publications
1.Rinoldi C., Lanzi M., Fiorelli R., Nakielski P., Zembrzycki K., Kowalewski T., Urbanek O., Jezierska-Woźniak K., Maksymowicz W., Camposeo A., Bilewicz R., Pisignano D., Sanai N., Pierini F., Pierini F., Three-dimensional printable conductive semi-interpenetrating polymer network hydrogel for neural tissue applications, BIOMACROMOLECULES, ISSN: 1525-7797, DOI: 10.1021/acs.biomac.1c00524, Vol.22, No.7, pp.3084-3098, 2021
Abstract:

Intrinsically conducting polymers (ICPs) are widely used to fabricate biomaterials; their application in neural tissue engineering, however, is severely limited because of their hydrophobicity and insufficient mechanical properties. For these reasons, soft conductive polymer hydrogels (CPHs) are recently developed, resulting in a water-based system with tissue-like mechanical, biological, and electrical properties. The strategy of incorporating ICPs as a conductive component into CPHs is recently explored by synthesizing the hydrogel around ICP chains, thus forming a semi-interpenetrating polymer network (semi-IPN). In this work, a novel conductive semi-IPN hydrogel is designed and synthesized. The hybrid hydrogel is based on a poly(N-isopropylacrylamide-co-N-isopropylmethacrylamide) hydrogel where polythiophene is introduced as an ICP to provide the system with good electrical properties. The fabrication of the hybrid hydrogel in an aqueous medium is made possible by modifying and synthesizing the monomers of polythiophene to ensure water solubility. The morphological, chemical, thermal, electrical, electrochemical, and mechanical properties of semi-IPNs were fully investigated. Additionally, the biological response of neural progenitor cells and mesenchymal stem cells in contact with the conductive semi-IPN was evaluated in terms of neural differentiation and proliferation. Lastly, the potential of the hydrogel solution as a 3D printing ink was evaluated through the 3D laser printing method. The presented results revealed that the proposed 3D printable conductive semi-IPN system is a good candidate as a scaffold for neural tissue applications.

Affiliations:
Rinoldi C.-IPPT PAN
Lanzi M.-University of Bologna (IT)
Fiorelli R.-other affiliation
Nakielski P.-IPPT PAN
Zembrzycki K.-IPPT PAN
Kowalewski T.-IPPT PAN
Grippo V.-other affiliation
Urbanek O.-IPPT PAN
Jezierska-Woźniak K.-other affiliation
Maksymowicz W.-University of Warmia and Mazury in Olsztyn (PL)
Camposeo A.-other affiliation
Bilewicz R.-other affiliation
Pisignano D.-other affiliation
Sanai N.-other affiliation
Pierini F.-IPPT PAN

Conference abstracts
1.Rinoldi C., Lanzi M., Fiorelli R., Nakielski P., Zembrzycki K., Kowalewski T.A., Urbanek O., Grippo V., Jezierska-Woźniak K., Maksymowicz W., Camposeo A., Bilewicz R., Pisignano D., Sanai N., Pierini F., Conductive interpenetrating polymer network hydrogel for neural tissue engineering and 3D printing applications, ESB 2021, 31st Annual Conference of the European Society for Biomaterials, 2021-09-05/09-09, Porto (PT), No.PS02-07-224, pp.1691-1692, 2021