SilkBridge™: a novel biomimetic and biocompatible silk-based nerve conduit

Alessandrino, Antonio; Fregnan, Federica; Biagiotti, Marco; Muratori, Luísa; Bassani, Giulia Alessandra; Ronchi, Giulia; Vincoli, Valentina; Pierimarchi, Pasquale; Geuna, Stefano; Freddi, Giuliano

doi:10.1039/c9bm00783k

Cited by 38 publications

(41 citation statements)

References 46 publications

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“…The mechanical characterization discussed in this paper complements the results previously reported (Alessandrino et al, 2019a;Alessandrino et al, 2019b) which referred specifically to the behavior of the conduit subjected to transversal stresses in the compression mode. Here, the mechanical properties of the SilkBridge TM conduit are investigated in the longitudinal direction, by testing the ultimate tensile strength and the suture retention strength.…”

Section: Mechanical Characterizationsupporting

confidence: 69%

“…As already demonstrated in a previous work (Alessandrino et al, 2019b) SilkBridge TM showed optimal mechanical parameters during surgery, including easy handling and suturability, and FIGURE 1 | (A) Schematic diagram of the 3D architecture of the SilkBridge TM conduit. (B) Typical load/strain curves.…”

Section: Surgical Procedures Animal Welfare and Macroscopic Evaluatmentioning

confidence: 60%

“…The three-layered SF-based nerve conduit (SilkBridge TM ) was manufactured as previously reported (Alessandrino et al, 2019a;Alessandrino et al, 2019b). Briefly, two electrospun layers (ES) were assembled onto the inner and outer faces of a tubular textile braid (TEX) according to a patented process (Alessandrino, 2017).…”

Section: Manufacturing Of Silkbridge Tmmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…We have recently developed a new conduit made by silk fibroin (SilkBridge TM nerve conduit) consisting of a hybrid tubular structure composed by two electrospun layers (ES, made of regenerated silk fibroin fibers of sub micrometer size) coupled with an intermediate textile layer (TEX, made of native silk fibroin microfibers) (Alessandrino et al, 2019b). This novel multi-layered SF-based nerve conduit resulted in a perfectly integrated and mechanically resistant structure with a light weight and a high porosity level in the low pore size range, all features important for an optimal nerve conduit.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Preclinical Validation of SilkBridgeTM for Peripheral Nerve Regeneration

Fregnan

Muratori

Bassani

et al. 2020

Front. Bioeng. Biotechnol.

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Silk fibroin (Bombyx mori) was used to manufacture a nerve conduit (SilkBridge TM) characterized by a novel 3D architecture. The wall of the conduit consists of two electrospun layers (inner and outer) and one textile layer (middle), perfectly integrated at the structural and functional level. The manufacturing technology conferred high compression strength on the device, thus meeting clinical requirements for physiological and pathological compressive stresses. As demonstrated in a previous work, the silk material has proven to be able to provide a valid substrate for cells to grow on, differentiate and start the fundamental cellular regenerative activities in vitro and, in vivo, at the short time point of 2 weeks, to allow the starting of regenerative processes in terms of good integration with the surrounding tissues and colonization of the wall layers and of the lumen with several cell types. In the present study, a 10 mm long gap in the median nerve was repaired with 12 mm SilkBridge TM conduit and evaluated at middle (4 weeks) and at longer time points (12 and 24 weeks). The SilkBridge TM conduit led to a very good functional and morphological recovery of the median nerve, similar to that observed with the reference autograft nerve reconstruction procedure. Taken together, all these results demonstrated that SilkBridge TM has an optimized balance of biomechanical and biological properties, which allowed proceeding with a first-inhuman clinical study aimed at evaluating safety and effectiveness of using the device for the reconstruction of digital nerve defects in humans.

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Section: Mechanical Characterizationsupporting

confidence: 69%

Section: Surgical Procedures Animal Welfare and Macroscopic Evaluatmentioning

confidence: 60%

Section: Manufacturing Of Silkbridge Tmmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 2 more Smart Citations

Preclinical Validation of SilkBridgeTM for Peripheral Nerve Regeneration

Fregnan

Muratori

Bassani

et al. 2020

Front. Bioeng. Biotechnol.

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“…Another tri-layered silk scaffold, used to repair a 10 mm gap and compared with autograft, consists of a textile layer interposed between two electrospun layers with controlled wall thickness and porosity (Alessandrino et al, 2019). In vitro assays carried out with Schwann cell and motor neuron cell lines demonstrated its biocompatibility, which was also confirmed by in vivo experiments: no inflammatory response and scar formation around the implant were observed 2 weeks after the repair.…”

Section: Silk Fibroinmentioning

confidence: 85%

Natural-Based Biomaterials for Peripheral Nerve Injury Repair

Fornasari

Carta

Gambarotta

et al. 2020

Front. Bioeng. Biotechnol.

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Peripheral nerve injury treatment is a relevant problem because of nerve lesion high incidence and because of unsatisfactory regeneration after severe injuries, thus resulting in a reduced patient's life quality. To repair severe nerve injuries characterized by substance loss and to improve the regeneration outcome at both motor and sensory level, different strategies have been investigated. Although autograft remains the gold standard technique, a growing number of research articles concerning nerve conduit use has been reported in the last years. Nerve conduits aim to overcome autograft disadvantages, but they must satisfy some requirements to be suitable for nerve repair. A universal ideal conduit does not exist, since conduit properties have to be evaluated case by case; nevertheless, because of their high biocompatibility and biodegradability, natural-based biomaterials have great potentiality to be used to produce nerve guides. Although they share many characteristics with synthetic biomaterials, natural-based biomaterials should also be preferable because of their extraction sources; indeed, these biomaterials are obtained from different renewable sources or food waste, thus reducing environmental impact and enhancing sustainability in comparison to synthetic ones. This review reports the strengths and weaknesses of natural-based biomaterials used for manufacturing peripheral nerve conduits, analyzing the interactions between natural-based biomaterials and biological environment. Particular attention was paid to the description of the preclinical outcome of nerve regeneration in injury repaired with the different natural-based conduits.

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Two Sides of Electrospun Fiber in Promoting and Inhibiting Biomedical Processes

Wang

Cui

2020

Advanced Therapeutics

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Electrospinning is a versatile technique for generating ultrathin fibers, which is widely applied in various biomedical applications. The properties and structures of the fibers are specifically engineered to meet the needs of particular applications. The impact of nanofibrous scaffolds on biological processes is related to the promotion or inhibition of specific cell or bioactive substance functions. Here, a novel analysis of the diverse roles of electrospun nanofibrous scaffolds is provided and recent advances in exploiting their binary attributes for applications in biomedicine are summarized. This review initially introduces the development techniques for electrospinning, specifically the engineering of electrospun nanofibers. Then, scaffold applications for cell migration, adhesion, proliferation, and accelerating regeneration in cardiac, nerve, skeletal muscle, bone tissue, and wound healing are presented. Moreover, their inhibitory properties in cancer treatments, antibacterial applications, anti‐adhesion, anti‐scarring, and inhibition of thrombus formation are summarized. Eventually, the potential for future work using multifunctional, electrospun, nanofibrous scaffolds, in order to further inspire the development of scaffolds for biomedical treatments is summarized and discussed.

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SilkBridge™: a novel biomimetic and biocompatible silk-based nerve conduit

Abstract: SilkBridge™: off-the-shelf nerve conduit with a novel hybrid textile-electrospun tubular architecture, highly biocompatible, and effective at sustaining the in vivo regeneration of nerve fibers.

Cited by 38 publications

References 46 publications

Preclinical Validation of SilkBridgeTM for Peripheral Nerve Regeneration

Preclinical Validation of SilkBridgeTM for Peripheral Nerve Regeneration

Natural-Based Biomaterials for Peripheral Nerve Injury Repair

Two Sides of Electrospun Fiber in Promoting and Inhibiting Biomedical Processes

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