Development of conductive polymeric nanofiber patches for cardiac tissue engineering application

Electrically conductive patches using biocompatible polymeric nanofibers have a beneficial effect on electroresponsive tissues such as the brain, heart, and nervous system. Recently, conductive nanofiber patches with electromechanical properties gained more attention as a promising and a well-effective technology in tissue engineering due to their conductive and flexible nature. In the present study, proposed conductive nanofibrous patches were developed using the electrospinning technique to mimic native myocardial extracellular matrix (ECM) biological and mechanical properties. Different patches of polyurethane (PU) and polylactic acid (PLA) biopolymer were developed by blending and dual syringe electrospinning followed by coating with interfacial polymerization of polyaniline (PANI). The developed nanofibrous patches were evaluated in terms of morphology, physicochemical properties, mechanical flexibility, and in vitro biocompatibility using human EA. hy926 endothelial cells. Results indicated an appropriate surface wettability and mechanical stability of the developed patches compared to reported human myocardium tissue properties. In addition, the electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS) test showed that patches coated with PANI as conductive films can enhance conductivity compared to the non-conductive (i.e pure polymers) and resulted in better cell proliferation and attachment. Interestingly, the electrical stimulation (ES) during in vitro test can be electrically stimulated and promote cell proliferation as well as mimic the myocardium bioelectricity. Our findings showed that the developed conductive patches can provide a robust conductive system for electroresponsive tissue indicated by cell proliferation shown in FESEM images of attached cells.