Investigation of basic cell interaction under electrical stimulation in Grafen/GelMA/PCL nerve conduit-like structures

The frequency of peripheral nerve injuries, the consequences affecting living standards depending on the type and location of the injury, the difficulties encountered with traditional surgical treatment methods through biological graft materials, have played a leading role in the development of engineered biomaterials with peripheral nerve tissue engineering methods and the conduct of various research in this field. Although it varies depending on the type of peripheral nerve injury, the main purpose of repair is to ensure the integrity of the damaged peripheral nerve sheath and to try to continue axon growth in a controlled manner by providing the appropriate microenvironment required for regeneration in a close to natural way. For this purpose, conduit and conduit-like tissue scaffolds have been designed from past to present, and tissue engineering products with different capabilities and different features in hollow or composite structures have been developed and continue to be developed to ensure this integrity. This thesis study focuses on a hydrogel conduit-produced tissue scaffold with a composite structure developed by highlighting the conductivity feature of graphene. In addition to the advantages of its conductive properties, the scaffold was designed to examine the effects of externally capacitively applied electrical stimulation on neuronal cell behavior. Characterization analysis of the composite structured hydrogel material consisting of reduced graphene oxide (rGO), gelatin methacrylate (GelMA) and polycaprolactone (PCL) produced according to this plan was performed. The compatibility of the materials forming the composite structure with the cell and hydrogel was evaluated both separately and all together. Following the characterization process, the groups in which electrical stimulation was applied by a square wave generator and those in which it was not applied were compared with each other. Results with better proliferation were obtained in all groups that received electrical stimulation, especially in groups containing rGO. Moreover, it has been observed that the produced materials are non-cytotoxic and biocompatible.