Distinct Aragonite Topography Induces Neural Elongation and Activation

In recent years, several biodegradable materials were researched as scaffolds for tissue engineering and regenerative medicine. Modifying these scaffolds was shown to influence their bioactivity and regeneration capacity. In this regard, coral skeleton was shown to promote neuronal regeneration processes. However, neuronal response to different coral scaffold topography was yet to be examined. In this paper, we examined coral’s topography and its effects on neuronal cells. We distinguished between three types of topography: smooth, ragged and curvature surfaces. We observed that, with the increase of the surface curvatures, astrocytes overexpressed (up to 10 times) glial fibrillary acidic protein and developed thin edged processes, which were found to be 20% longer (compare to control). Interestingly, the same was found for microtubule-associated protein 2 in dendrites. Thus, we suggest that the topography induces the neuronal cells activation and expansion. These effects of coral topography on cell behavior might play a key role in applications for neuronal tissue restoration.