Advanced Nanofiber-Based Scaffolds for Achilles Tendon Regenerative Engineering

Abstract

The Achilles tendon (AT) is responsible for running, jumping, and standing. The AT injuries are very common in the population. In the adult population (21–60 years), the incidence of AT injuries is approximately 2.35 per 1,000 people. It negatively impacts people’s quality of life and increases the medical burden. Due to its low cellularity and vascular deficiency, AT has a poor healing ability. Therefore, AT injury healing has attracted a lot of attention from researchers. Current AT injury treatment options cannot effectively restore the mechanical structure and function of AT, which promotes the development of AT regenerative tissue engineering. Various nanofiber-based scaffolds are currently being explored due to their structural similarity to natural tendon and their ability to promote tissue regeneration. This review discusses current methods of AT regeneration, recent advances in the fabrication and enhancement of nanofiber-based scaffolds, and the development and use of multiscale nanofiber-based scaffolds for AT regeneration.

Nanofibrous scaffolds for the healing of the fibrocartilaginous enthesis: advances and prospects

“…More importantly, the polymer used in phase separation technology has certain limitations and is not as abundant as the polymer that can be used in electrospinning. 36,90,91 A powerful approach for fabricating novel supramolecular architectures is molecular self-assembly. 92…”

“…92,93 However, the use of self-assembly technology to manufacture nanofibers has obvious disadvantages, such as complex processing, low productivity, high cost, and poor mechanical properties of the manufactured nanofibers, which may limit their application in tissue engineering. 36,94…”

“…88 Nanofibers manufactured by electrospinning technology have more porous structures and a larger surface-to-volume ratio than those manufactured by other techniques; this also creates better conditions for cell attachment and the loading and delivery of drugs or other bioactive molecules, and has great application potential in the field of tissue repair. 36,89 In phase separation technology, the polymer is dissolved in the solvent and quickly cooled with the poor polymer of the induced solution and the rich polymer. Then, the solvent is exchanged with water and the material is frozen and dry, and the proper gelling temperature leads to nanofiber formation.…”

“…29,30 In recent years, nanofibrous scaffolds have been widely used in the field of tissue engineering. [31][32][33][34][35][36] The morphology of nanofibrous scaffolds is easy to adjust, as it appears that simulating the composition and structure of fibrocartilaginous enthesis is more beneficial to its regeneration and improving the mechanical properties of tissues. Nanofibrous scaffolds can control drug release during early healing of fibrocartilaginous enthesis.…”

The Application of a Bioinductive Implant in Achilles Tendon Repair: A Case Report

“…Achilles tendon is composed of 20% sparse cells and 80% extracellular matrix, which consists of a network of type I collagen fibres arranged in parallel and regular fashion and they provides tensile strength to the tendon [3]. Achilles tendon demonstrated non-linear elasticity, which means that after being stretched beyond its physiological limit, the tendon will eventually break [4,5].…”