Improving the glial differentiation of human Schwann-like adipose-derived stem cells with graphene oxide substrates

There is urgent need to improve the clinical outcome of peripheral nerve
injury. Many efforts are directed towards the fabrication of bioengineered conduits,
which could deliver stem cells to the site of injury to promote and guide
peripheral nerve regeneration. The aim of this study is to assess whether graphene
and related nanomaterials can be useful in the fabrication of such
conduits. A comparison is made between graphene oxide (GO) and reduced
GO substrates. Our results show that the graphene substrates are highly biocompatible, and the reduced GO substrates are more effective in increasing
the gene expression of the biomolecules involved in the regeneration process
compared to the other substrates studied.