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Tissue engineering is evolving towards the production of smart platforms exhibiting stimulatory cues to guide tissue regeneration. This work explores the benefits of electrical polarization to produce more efficient neural tissue engineering platforms. Poly (l-lactic) acid (PLLA)-based scaffolds were prepared as solvent cast films and electrospun aligned nanofibers, and electrically polarized by an in-lab built corona poling device. The characterization of the platforms by thermally stimulated depolarization currents reveals a polarization of 60 × 10 -10 C cm -2 that is stable on poled electrospun nanofibers for up to 6 months. Further in vitro studies using neuroblastoma cells reveals that platforms' polarization potentiates Retinoic Acid-induced neuronal differentiation. Additionally, in differentiating embryonic cortical neurons, poled aligned nanofibers further increased neurite outgrowth by 30% (+70 μm) over non-poled aligned nanofibers, and by 50% (+100 μm) over control conditions. Therefore, the synergy of topographical cues and electrical polarization of poled aligned nanofibers places them as promising biocompatible and bioactive platforms for neural tissue regeneration. Given their long lasting induced polarization, these PLLA poled nanofibrous scaffolds can be envisaged as therapeutic devices of long shelf life for neural repair applications., (Copyright © 2018 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

Poly (L-lactic acid) (PLLA) is a biodegradable and biocompatible polymer that has been put forward as a promising material for therapeutic approaches aiming to restore neuronal function. The topographic cues present in PLLA-based scaffolds, defined by the technique used in their preparation, have been shown to play a role on the cellular behavior of adherent cells. Even though this interaction has been shown to influence the regenerative output of the scaffold, there is a lack of studies addressing this response at the proteomic level. Hence, this work focuses on the effect of electrospun PLLA-based nanofibers on the proteome, cellular processes and signaling pathways of SH-SY5Y neuroblastoma cells. It also further explores how these molecular mediators might influence cell proliferation and differentiation upon in vitro culture. For that, mass spectrometry followed by bioinformatics analysis was firstly performed and further complemented with Western blot, cell viability and imaging assays. Results show that PLLA nanofibers differentially activate and inhibit specific cellular functions and signaling pathways related to cell division, apoptosis, actin remodeling, among others. These ultimately block cellular proliferation and induce morphological rearrangements through cytoskeleton remodeling, adaptations that turn cells more prone to differentiate. In synthesis, PLLA nanofibers shift the SH-SY5Y cells proteome towards a state more responsive to differentiation-inductive cues such as the retinoic acid. Unveiling cells responses to nanomaterials is an important step to increase the tools available for their manipulation and potentiate their use in neural tissue engineering. Further studies should be performed to compare the effects of other topographic cues on cellular behavior. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]