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Review
. 2019 Dec 5:23:25.
doi: 10.1186/s40824-019-0176-8. eCollection 2019.

Electrical stimulation as a novel tool for regulating cell behavior in tissue engineering

Cen Chen  1   2 , Xue Bai  1 , Yahui Ding  3   4 , In-Seop Lee  5
Affiliations
Review

Electrical stimulation as a novel tool for regulating cell behavior in tissue engineering

Cen Chen et al. Biomater Res. .

Abstract

Recently, electrical stimulation as a physical stimulus draws lots of attention. It shows great potential in disease treatment, wound healing, and mechanism study because of significant experimental performance. Electrical stimulation can activate many intracellular signaling pathways, and influence intracellular microenvironment, as a result, affect cell migration, cell proliferation, and cell differentiation. Electrical stimulation is using in tissue engineering as a novel type of tool in regeneration medicine. Besides, with the advantages of biocompatible conductive materials coming into view, the combination of electrical stimulation with suitable tissue engineered scaffolds can well combine the benefits of both and is ideal for the field of regenerative medicine. In this review, we summarize the various materials and latest technologies to deliver electrical stimulation. The influences of electrical stimulation on cell alignment, migration and its underlying mechanisms are discussed. Then the effect of electrical stimulation on cell proliferation and differentiation are also discussed.

Keywords: Electrical stimulation; Regenerative medicine; Tissue engineered materials.

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Conflict of interest statement

Competing interestsThe authors declare that they have no competing interests.

Figures

Fig. 1
Fig. 1
Three ways to deliver electrical stimulation: (a) direct coupling, (b) capacitive coupling, and (c) inductive Reprinted with permission from reference [40]
Fig. 2
Fig. 2
Mechanism of ES-induced cell migration
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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