Effect of Graphene Oxide Incorporation into Electrospun Cellulose Acetate Scaffolds on Breast Cancer Cell Culture

Graphene-based nanomaterials have been used as biomaterials to enhance cell adhesion, growth, and differentiation. However, the effect of graphene materials on cancer cell behavior has not been thoroughly investigated. Herein, we have incorporated graphene oxide (GO) into cellulose acetate (CA) to develop nanofibrous scaffolds for in vitro cancer cell culture, which is a crucial step for drug screening and cancer research. The Go/CA scaffolds were seeded with breast cancer cells and cell viability, proliferation, adhesion, infiltration, and morphology were assessed. Mechanical characterization demonstrated that the mechanical properties of GO/CA scaffolds were significantly better than bare CA scaffold and improved with increasing GO content. More importantly, the in vitro cell studies showed that the cancer cells on GO/CA scaffolds had significantly higher viability and better cell adhesion and growth than bare CA. Our results confirm an important role of GO in improving mechanical properties and cancer cell performance on GO/CA scaffolds. These results suggest the potential of the GO/CA scaffolds as a promising candidate for in vitro cancer models.