Summary: Scientists are combining their expertise to change stem cells for nerve regrowth.
Researchers trying to regenerate nerve cells might face a hard time. For example: Schwann cells. They form sheaths around axons, the tail-like part of nerve cells that carry electrical impulses. They promote regeneration of those axons. And they secrete substances that promote the health of nerve cells. They are very useful to researchers hoping to regenerate nerve cells specifically peripheral nerve cells, those cells outside the brain and spinal cord.
Production of schwann cells:
Researchers are using mesenchymal stem cells and using a chemical process to turn them into Schwann cells. Its and arduous, step-by-step expensive process. Researchers at Iowa State University are exploring what they hope will be a better way to transform those stem cells into Schwann-like cells. They’ve developed a nanotechnology that uses inkjet printers to print multi-layer graphene circuits and uses lasers to treat and improve the surface structure and conductivity of those circuits.
It turns out mesenchymal stem cells adhere and grow well on the treated circuit’s raised, rough and 3-D nanostructures. Add small doses of electricity — 100 millivolts for 10 minutes per day over 15 days — and the stem cells become Schwann-like cells.
The research paper:
The researchers’ findings are featured on the front cover of the scientific journal Advanced Healthcare Materials. Jonathan Claussen, an Iowa State assistant professor of mechanical engineering and an associate of the U.S. Department of Energy’s Ames Laboratory, is lead author. Suprem Das, a postdoctoral research associate in mechanical engineering and an associate of the Ames Laboratory; and Metin Uz, a postdoctoral research associate in chemical and biological engineering, are first authors.
The paper reports several advantages to using electrical stimulation to differentiate stem cells into Schwann-like cells:
- doing away with the arduous steps of chemical processing
- reducing costs by eliminating the need for expensive nerve growth factors
- potentially increasing control of stem cell differentiation with precise electrical stimulation
- and creating a low maintenance, artificial framework for neural damage repairs.
A key to making it all work is a graphene inkjet printing process developed in Claussen’s research lab. The process takes advantages of graphene’s wonder-material properties — it’s a great conductor of electricity and heat, it’s strong, stable and biocompatible — to produce low-cost, flexible and even wearable electronics.
Issues:
once graphene electronic circuits were printed, they had to be treated to improve electrical conductivity. That usually meant high temperatures or chemicals. Either could damage flexible printing surfaces including plastic films or paper.
Claussen and his research group solved the problem by developing computer-controlled laser technology that selectively irradiates inkjet-printed graphene oxide. The treatment removes ink binders and reduces graphene oxide to graphene — physically stitching together millions of tiny graphene flakes. The process makes electrical conductivity more than a thousand times better.
This technology could one day be used to create dissolvable nerve regeneration materials that could be surgically placed in a person’s body and wouldn’t require a second surgery to remove.