Enhanced neuronal cell differentiation combining biomimetic peptides and a carbon nanotube-polymer scaffold

This work presents a nanocomposite scaffold, set up to combine specific features from multi-walled carbon nanotubes (contributing electrical cues and mimicking neural topography), dispersed in a poly-l-lactic acid matrix (ensuring full biocompatibility and freestanding plasticity). Furthermore, to mimic guidance cues, we developed biomimetic peptides reproducing active motifs from L1 and LINGO1 proteins. Combination of the scaffold and peptides proved to synergistically boost neuronal differentiation, hence representing a prototype for next neural regenerative medicine applications.140