A 3D printed graphene electrode device for enhanced and scalable stem cell culture, osteoinduction and tissue building

Bone related diseases and disorders increasingly impact human health. Electrical stimulation (ES) has been shown to promote osteogenesis and healing of bone defects. Graphene, is an electrically conductive and biocompatible material with good mechanical properties (strength with flexibility), and therefore shows significant promise as a cell-compatible electrode for ES. Graphene-based scaffolds may therefore be used for 3D cell and tissue support, including 3D osteoinduction. We have fabricated 3D graphene electrode structures to provide ES to human adipose stem cells (ADSCs). The assemblies support ADSC growth and differentiation, with ES augmenting proliferation and osteogenesis. Our findings expand our previous work on developing graphene-based cell culture platforms for bone engineering, demonstrating their adaptability and amalgamation for more scalable and high throughput stem cell maintenance, osteoinduction and tissue building. Furthermore, the devices have the potential to be employed for a variety of other cells and tissues for research and therapeutics, including regenerative medicine. (c) 2021 The Author(s). Published by Elsevier Ltd. This is an open access article under the CC BY license (http:// creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).

Automated summary

Graphene, as an electrically conductive and biocompatible material, shows promise as a cell-compatible electrode for promoting osteogenesis. 3D graphene electrode structures have been fabricated to provide electrical stimulation to human adipose stem cells, enhancing proliferation and osteogenesis. These findings have potential applications in scalable stem cell maintenance, osteoinduction, and tissue engineering for regenerative medicine.