Carbonization of polymer precursors substrates to direct human iPSC-derived neurons differentiation and maturation

Abstract In this work, precursor polymers were processed by electrospinning and photolithography. Polyacrilonitrile (PAN) fibers were obtained by electrospinning, while SU-8 high-resolution micro-patterns on silicon wafers were produced by photolithography. The substrates were subjected to thermal stabilization and pyrolysis to obtain carbon structures. iPSCs-derived Neural Stem Cells (NSCs) were cultured on the carbonized materials to analyze their adhesion and differentiation into neurons on the designed scaffolds. Results show that NSCs recognized the substrates and differentiated into neurons on both scaffold typologies. In order to evaluate differences among substrates used, neuronal marker expression analysis was performed.