Physical cues of the scaffolds, elasticity, and stiffness significantly guide adhesion, proliferation, and differentiation of stem cells. In addressable microenvironments constructed by three-dimensional graphene foams (3D-GFs), neural stem cells (NSCs) interact with and respond to the structural geometry and mechanical properties of porous scaffolds. Our studies aim to investigate NSC behavior on the various stiffness of 3D-GFs. Two kinds of 3D-GFs scaffolds present soft and stiff properties with elasticity moduli of 30 and 64 kPa, respectively. Stiff scaffold enhanced NSC attachment and proliferation with vinculin and integrin gene expression were up-regulated by 2.3 and 1.5 folds, respectively, compared with the soft one. Meanwhile, up-regulated Ki67 expression and almost no variation of nestin expression in a group of the stiff scaffold were observed, implying that the stiff substrate fosters NSC growth and keeps the cells in an active stem state. Furthermore, NSCs grown on stiff scaffold exhibited enhanced differentiation to astrocytes. Interestingly, differentiated neurons on stiff scaffold are suppressed since growth associated protein-43 expression was significantly improved by 5.5 folds.
Keywords: differentiation; neural stem cells; proliferation; stiffness; three-dimensional graphene scaffolds.