A novel electrospun nerve conduit enhanced by carbon nanotubes for peripheral nerve regeneration

Abstract

For artificial nerve conduits, great improvements have been achieved in mimicking the structures and components of autologous nerves. However, there are still some problems in conduit construction, especially in terms of mechanical properties, biomimetic surface tomography, electrical conductivity and sustained release of neurotrophic factors or cells. In this study, we designed and fabricated a novel electrospun nerve conduit enhanced by multi-walled carbon nanotubes (MWNTs) on the basis of a collagen/poly(ε-caprolactone) (collagen/PCL) fibrous scaffold. Our aim was to provide further knowledge about the mechanical effects and efficacy of MWNTs on nerve conduits as well as the biocompatibility and toxicology of MWNTs when applied in vivo.The results showed that as one component, carboxyl MWNTs could greatly alter the composite scaffold's hydrophilicity, mechanical properties and degradability. The electrospun fibers enhanced by MWNTs could support Schwann cell adhesion and elongation as a substrate in vitro. In vivo animal studies demonstrated that the MWNT-enhanced collagen/PCL conduit could effectively promote nerve regeneration of sciatic nerve defect in rats and prevent muscle atrophy without invoking body rejection or serious chronic inflammation. All of these results showed that this MWNT-enhanced scaffold possesses good biocompatibility and MWNTs might be excellent candidates as engineered nanocarriers for further neurotrophic factor delivery research.

Characterization of Olfactory Ensheathing Glial Cells Cultured on Polyurethane/Polylactide Electrospun Nonwovens

“…High porosity and fibrous structure facilitate cell adhesion and infiltration [9], neurite contact guidance [10][11][12], axon penetration [12,13], and diffusion of nutrients and waste substances, all of which act to enhance integration of the polymer scaffold with the 2 International Journal of Polymer Science tissue [9][10][11][12][13]. Polymers processed by the electrospinning technique are used with considerably increasing interest for both central and peripheral neural tissue engineering ( [1,[16][17][18] and references cited therein).…”

Repairing Peripheral Nerves: Is there a Role for Carbon Nanotubes?

“…Copyright 2005, 2008, 2012, John Wiley and Sons. Reproduced with permission . Copyright 2014 2015, IOP publishing.…”

“…However, the mechanical strength of the conduit was not significantly improved. This was ascribed to insufficient dispersion of CNTs within the composite matrix . Despite the lack of improved mechanical properties, MWCNT‐collagen/PCL NRCs supported nerve regeneration in a rat sciatic nerve injury model and were found to support Schwann cell growth in vitro.…”

Recent advances in bioactive 1D and 2D carbon nanomaterials for biomedical applications

“…In the same study, the scaffold also supported Schwann cell adhesion and elongation. 157 Freeze-dried silk/SWCNT/fibronectin-based nerve guidance conduits also showed higher nerve conduction velocities and more myelinated axons in a rat sciatic nerve deficient model. 158 Furthermore, collagen isolated from rat tails was incorporated into composite hydrogels with CNTs and the composite system provided significant stimulation of MSC differentiation into the neural fate.…”