Electrophysiological Recordings from Embryonic Mouse Motoneurons Cultured on Electrospun Poly-Lactic Acid (PLA) and Polypyrrole-Coated PLA Scaffolds

Biomaterials used as cell growth stimulants should be able to provide adequate cell adhesion with no alteration in cell function. In this work, we developed a three-dimensional model of mouse spinal cord motoneurons on scaffolds composed of electrospun poly-lactic acid (PLA) fibers and plasma-polymerized polypyrrole (PPy)-coated PLA fibers.

The functionality of the cultured motoneurons was assessed by evaluating both the electrophysiological response (i.e., the whole-cell Na+ and K+ currents and the firing of action potentials) and also the expression of the vesicular acetylcholine transporter (VAChaT) by immunostaining techniques. While the expression of the VAChaT was confirmed on motoneurons cultured on the fibrous scaffolds, the electrophysiological responses indicated Na+ and K+ currents with lower amplitude and slower action potentials when compared to the response recorded from spinal cord motoneurons cultured on Poly-DL-Ornithine/Laminin- and plasma-polymerized PPy-coated coverslips.

From a morphological viewpoint, motoneurons cultured on PLA and PPy-coated PLA scaffolds did not show the development of dendritic and/or axonal processes, which were satisfactorily observed in the bidimensional cultures.

We hypothesize that the apparently limited development of dendritic and/or axonal processes could produce a deleterious effect on the electrophysiological response of the cells, which might be due to the limited growth surface available in the fibrous scaffolds and/or to an undesired effect of the purification process.