The electrically conductive scaffold as the skeleton of stem cell niche in regenerative medicine

•Stem cell, niche and their contributions in regenerative medicine are summarized.•Fabrication and cytotoxicity of commonly used conductive materials are reviewed.•Conductive scaffolds for guiding stem cell differentiation are well discussed.

Stem cells with multipotent and self-renewal abilities play a vital role in regenerative medicine and tissue engineering. They can assist tissue reconstruction through specific differentiation and secretion of various bioactive macromolecules. More and more studies confirm that the cell-fate commitment can be manipulated via constructing a specific stem cell niche. The construction of specific niches with conductive materials (conducting polymers, carbon nanotubes and graphene) can promote stem cell differentiation towards electro-active lineages and emphasize the promising role of stem cells in electro-active tissue regeneration (e.g., nerve and heart). In this review, we summarize the commonly applied conductive materials for scaffold construction and evaluate their contributions in the regeneration of electro-active tissues.