MATERIALS, METHODS AND DEVICES FOR STIMULATING AND DIRECTING THE PROLIFERATION AND MIGRATION OF NEURAL PROGENITORS AND AXONAL AND DENDRITIC GROWTH

摘要

The present invention consists of compositions, methods and devices for inducing, promoting and directing adherence, proliferation and migration of neural precursors and axonal and dendritic growth. It comprises electro-conductive substrates comprising of an electro-conductive polymer doped with polystyrene sulfonate-maleic acid copolymer (PSS-co-MA) forming biofunctionalized surfaces of microfibers for presenting one or several biomolecules of interest in order to control cell behaviour. These substrates may be used for neurological studies, cell cultures and pharmagological assays in vitro; as well as for being implanted in the nervous system in the form of scaffolds or electro-biological devices, so as to promote neural tissue repair or to improve communication in the electrode/neural cell interface in neuroprosthetic systems. The cellular effects are attained by the type, number or way of molecule binding to the substrate, by the physical properties thereof and geometry of scaffolds, by electric stimulation or by the combined action of these factors.