Biomedical Engineering Reference
In-Depth Information
require grafts to bridge the proximal and distalnerve ends. Auto-
grafts are the current gold standard; however, they are often lim-
ited in supply, require a prolonged surgical time, and can cause
donor site morbidity. As an alternative, several conduit materials,
both natural and synthetic, have been used as nerve grafts. Several
biodegradable polymers were successfully electrospun into nerve
grafts and tested for their e
cacy to stimulate axonal regeneration
through their entire length.
27
,
28
Neural tissue repair is a daunting
challenge because almost all neural injuries lead to an irreversible
loss of function. Neural tissue engineering aims to repair neural
tissue by employing biological tools such as normal or genetically
engineered cells and ECM equivalents, along with potent synthetic
tools such as biomaterials for scaffold design and/or drug delivery
systems.
Yang
et al.
28
have studied the potential of PLLA-based
electrospun nanofibrous scaffolds for the purpose of neural tis-
sue engineering. Their study involved understanding the influ-
ence of nanofibrous scaffolds on neural stem cells (NSCs). Their
results also indicated that randomly oriented nanofibers (150-
350 nm) not only supported NSC adhesion but also promoted NSC
differentiation.
28
Bhattarai
et al.
29
have recently reported another
study wherein they tried to understand the role of a natural-
synthetic polymeric nanofiber comprised of well-blended chitosan
and PCL in neural tissue engineering. The design combines tech-
nological advances in biocompatible polymers and nanotechnol-
ogy to produce nanofibrous matrices with significantly improved
mechanical and biological properties. Schwann cells on chitosan-
PCL fibers exhibited the most significant spreading, as indicated by
the large polar cell body, while Schwann cells on PCL nanofibers
and chitosan-PCL film had smaller, spherical cell morphologies.
Similarly, PC12 cells exhibited the most significant spreading on
chitosan-PCL nanofibers with more extended neuritis compared
with those on the control materials, which exhibited smaller, spher-
icalcellbodies.Asamodelbiomedicalapplication,theyconstructed
nerve guide conduits from this novel nano-featured material and
demonstrated its excellent mechanical and biological properties
in vitro
.
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