Neuronal differentiation of PC12 cells on nanofibrous scaffold PCL/gelatin

The rat pheochromocytoma cell line (PC12) differentiates and converts into neuron-like cells in in vitro condition under inductive factors. Researchers have shown that different growth factors, like neurotrophic growth factor (NGF) and basic fibroblast growth factor (bFGF), have different effects in proliferation, survival and differentiation of the cells. It was hypothesized that porous biodegradable polymer scaffolds support the formation of complex 3D tissues during differentiation of PC12 cells. The aim of this study was to evaluate the role of nanofibrous scaffold PCL/gelatin on neuronal differentiation of PC12 cells. In this basic study the PC12 cells were seeded on PCL/gelatin under identical media and growth factor supplementation conditions. Gene expression including Nestin and Map2 (Microtubule-associated protein 2) was analyzed using quantitative RT-PCR and immunostaining. Cellular morphology was analyzed with light microscopy; sphere ultra structure was analyzed with scanning electron microscopy. PC12 cells could efficiently differentiate into neuron-like cells on 3D culture and PCL/gelatin scaffold had no adverse effect and toxicity on PC12 cells. Using tissue engineering provides a potential mechanism for creating viable human neural tissue structures for future therapeutic applications in neural pathologies such Parkinson’s disease, spinal cord injury, and Glaucoma.