Organic semiconductors are constantly gaining interest in regenerative medicine. Their tunable physico-chemical properties, including electrical conductivity, are very promising for the control of stem-cell differentiation. However, their use for combined material-based and electrical stimulation remains largely underexplored. Therefore, we carried out a study on whether a platform based on the conductive polymer poly(3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene):polystyrene sulfonate (PEDOT:PSS) can be beneficial to the differentiation of mouse embryonic stem cells (mESCs). The platform was prepared using the layout of a standard 24-well cell-culture plate. Polyethylene naphthalate foil served as the substrate for the preparation of interdigitated gold electrodes by physical vapor deposition. The PEDOT:PSS pattern was fabricated by precise screen printing over the gold electrodes. The PEDOT:PSS platform was able to produce higher electrical current with the pulsed-direct-current (DC) electrostimulation mode (1 Hz, 200 mV/mm, 100 ms pulse duration) compared to plain gold electrodes. There was a dominant capacitive component. In proof-of-concept experiments, mESCs were able to respond to such electrostimulation by membrane depolarization and elevation of cytosolic calcium. Further, the PEDOT:PSS platform was able to upregulate cardiomyogenesis and potentially inhibit early neurogenesis per se with minor contribution of electrostimulation. Hence, the present work highlights the large potential of PEDOT:PSS in regenerative medicine.

Department of Experimental Biology Faculty of Science Masaryk University Kamenice 5 625 00 Brno Czech Republic

Faculty of Chemistry Brno University of Technology Purkyňova 118 612 00 Brno Czech Republic

Institute of Biophysics of the Czech Academy of Sciences Královopolská 135 612 65 Brno Czech Republic

International Clinical Research Center St Anne's University Hospital Brno Pekařská 53 656 91 Brno Czech Republic

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