Guidance of cell adhesion and migration by graphitic nanopetals on carbon fibers

Carbon-based nanomaterials have emerged in a wide variety of applications because of their tunable mechanical, electrical, chemical and optical properties. However, poor cellular adhesion makes their use significantly limited in tissue engineering and regenerative medicines. In order to address this challenge, we studied interactions of fibroblast and epithelial cells with graphitic nanopetal structures grown on carbon fibers. We found that all the cell types studied attached to and migrated along the nanopetal coated carbon fibers, but not to the non-coated fibers. The petals' nanoscale irregular geometry is thought to enhance cellular adhesion and migration. Further understanding of the mechanisms of this interaction and improvising this method may be useful to design novel tissue engineering strategies using carbon-based nanomaterials.