Morphology and Viability of Nerve Cells Cultured on Plasma Polymerized Polypyrrole-Coated Scaffolds

In this work, neural cell interactions with previously fabricated and characterized polylactic acid (PLA) fibrillar scaffolds, randomly- and aligned-oriented, coated with plasma-synthesized polypyrrole (PPPy) and polypyrrole doped with iodine (PPPy/I) were studied by three-dimensional culture of cells from a neural cell line on the scaffolds, analysis of their morphologic response by scanning electron microscopy and their viability by measuring the metabolic activity of the cells directly seeded on the scaffolds. Cells attached to the composite scaffolds and projected filopodia towards neighboring cells and fibers. Randomly-oriented scaffolds allowed for greater cell population on the scaffolds than did the aligned scaffolds. Greater average cell viability, adequate membrane ultrastructure and even neurite-like processes were observed on PPPy- and PPPy/I-coated scaffolds. These results suggest that PPPy/I and aligned PPPy-coated scaffolds provide a permissive substrate for the growth and survival of neural cells, with potential for supporting the processes of neural tissue repair and regeneration.