TY - JOUR T1 - Simple and Robust Fabrication and Characterization of Conductive Carbonized Nanofibers Loaded with Gold Nanoparticles for Bone Tissue Engineering Applications JF - bioRxiv DO - 10.1101/2020.03.28.013383 SP - 2020.03.28.013383 AU - Houra Nekounam AU - Zahra Allahyari AU - Shayan Gholizadeh AU - Esmaeil Mirzaei AU - Mohammad Ali Shokrgozar AU - Reza Faridi-Majidi Y1 - 2020/01/01 UR - http://biorxiv.org/content/early/2020/04/02/2020.03.28.013383.abstract N2 - Bone tissue engineering is a new and applicable emerging approach to repair the bone defects. Electrical conductive scaffolds through a physiologically relevant physical signaling, electrical stimulation, has shown a highly promise in this approach. In this paper, we fabricated carbon nanofiber/gold nanoparticle (CNF/GNP) conductive scaffolds using two distinct methods; blending electrospinning in which GNP were blended with electrospinning solution, and electrospinning/electrospraying in which GNP was electrosprayed simultaneously with electrospinning. The obtained electrospun mats underwent stabilization/carbonization process. The scaffolds were characterized by SEM, XRD, FT-IR and Raman spectroscopy. SEM characterizations showed improved morphology and a slight decrease in the diameter of the spinned and sprayed nanofibers (from 178.66 ± 38.40 nm to 157.94 ± 24.14 nm and 120.81 ± 13.77 nm, respectively), while XRD analysis confirmed the crystal structure of the nanofibers. Raman spectroscopy revealed enhancement in the graphitization of the structure, and the electrical conductivity of the structure improved by up to 29.2% and 81% in electrospraying and blending electrospinning modes, respectively. Indirect MTT and LDH toxicity assays directly were performed to assess MG63 cell toxicity, but no significant toxicity was observed and the scaffolds did not adversely affect cell proliferation. It can be concluded this structure have potential for bone tissue engineering applications. ER -