Biocompatibility study of polypyrrole/PLGA conductive nanofiber scaffold on hepatocytes

Abstract

Objective To evaluate the biocompatibility of polypyrrole/PLGA conductive nanofiber scaffold on hepatocytes.Methods The polypyrrole/PLGA conductive nanofiber scaffold was designed via electrospinning and oxidative polymerization,and characterized by scanning electron microscope (SEM) and cyclic voltammetry.Rat hepatocytes were harvested by a two-step in situ collagenase perfusion procedure.Rats were divided as polypyrrole/PLGA group,PLGA group and the blank control group.The cytoactivity was detected by MTT assay,cell number was assessed by BCA kit,the albumin secretion and urea synthesis were detected by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA),and the concentration of lactate dehydrogenase (LDH) and tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α) was also measured.Results There was no significant difference in the cell number and cytoactivity between polypyrrole/PLGA group and PLGA group (P＞0.05),which were both better than the blank control group (P＜0.05).The urea synthesis and albumin secretion of hepatocytes on polypyrrole/PLGA conductive scaffold had a similar phenomenon.There was no significant difference between the concentration of LDH and TNF-α among the three groups (P＞0.05).Conclusions The polypyrrole/ PLGA conductive nanofiber scaffold shows good biocompatibility,which suggests its potential application as a suitable substratum for hepatocytes culturing in liver tissue engineering. Key words: Polypyrrole; Hepatocyte; Nanofiber scaffold; Biocompatibility