Neurite outgrowth on nanocomposite scaffolds synthesized from PLGA and carboxylated carbon nanotubes

Carbon nanotubes (CNTs) have been suggested as suitable materials for biomedical applications, especially in the neural area. It is essential not only to investigate the biocompatibility of CNTs with the neural system but also to determine proper methods for applying CNTs to neuronal growth. This work represents the first application of CNTs by electrospun poly(D,L-lactic-co- glycolic acid) (PLGA) scaffolds for a neural system. We synthesized electrospun nanocomposites of PLGA and single-walled carbon nanotubes functionalized by carboxylic acid groups (c-SWNTs), and investigated neurite outgrowth from SH-SY5Y cells on these nanocomposites as compared to that on fibrous PLGA alone. Cells on our PLGA/c-SWNT nanocomposite showed significantly enhanced mitochondrial function and neurite outgrowth compared to cells on PLGA alone. We concluded that c-SWNTs incorporated into fibrous PLGA scaffolds exerted a positive role on the health of neural cells.