Tailoring synthetic polymeric biomaterials towards nerve tissue engineering: a review

Abstract

The nervous system is known as a crucial part of the body and derangement in this system can cause potentially lethal consequences or serious side effects. Unfortunately, the nervous system is unable to rehabilitate damaged regions following seriously debilitating disorders such as stroke, spinal cord injury and brain trauma which, in turn, lead to the reduction of quality of life for the patient. Major challenges in restoring the damaged nervous system are low regenerative capacity and the complexity of physiology system. Synthetic polymeric biomaterials with outstanding properties such as excellent biocompatibility and non-immunogenicity find a wide range of applications in biomedical fields especially neural implants and nerve tissue engineering scaffolds. Despite these advancements, tailoring polymeric biomaterials for design of a desired scaffold is fundamental issue that needs tremendous attention to promote the therapeutic benefits and minimize adverse effects. This review aims to (i) describe the nervous system and related injuries. Then, (ii) nerve tissue engineering strategies are discussed and (iii) physiochemical properties of synthetic polymeric biomaterials systematically highlighted. Moreover, tailoring synthetic polymeric biomaterials for nerve tissue engineering is reviewed.

<p>Magnetic Field Promotes Migration of Schwann Cells with Chondroitinase ABC (ChABC)-Loaded Superparamagnetic Nanoparticles Across Astrocyte Boundary in vitro</p>

“…43 Therefore, it is essential to modify SPIONs with polymers to increase their stability and manipulate their surface properties to improve cell and material interface. 44,45 Base on the reason above, it is important to functionalize SPIONs to achieve a positive charged surface to facilitate cell endocytosis and avoid aggregating in our study. Polyethylenimine (PEI) is a widely used cationic polymer to modify the surface of SPIONs.…”

<p>Ulinastatin Promotes Regeneration of Peripheral Nerves After Sciatic Nerve Injury by Targeting let-7 microRNAs and Enhancing NGF Expression</p>

“…3,4 After sciatic nerve injury, a series of molecular and cellular events occur, which contribute to Wallerian degeneration: in brief, the myelin sheath of nerves is disintegrated to granular and amorphous debris that cut off the distal stump of transected nerve, then the myelin sheath is transformed into short segments, and phagocytosis of the myelin debris and axon fibers is mediated by the activated macrophages, resulting in the degeneration of nerve stumps. 5 Schwann cells can dedifferentiate, proliferate, and migrate to the site of injury, together with macrophages to eliminate myelin fragments, forming a Büngner band, which provides a condition for axon regeneration. 6 Although the peripheral nervous system can spontaneously regenerate to some extent, its functional recovery is usually not satisfactory, especially in the case of severe injury.…”

Microstructure and Mechanical Properties of PU/PLDL Sponges Intended for Grafting Injured Spinal Cord

“…They are especially incapacitating in case of spinal cord injuries (SCI). Regardless of the location, central nervous system injuries always cause a loss of important neurological functions [1][2][3][4][5][6][7][8][9][10]. Treatment is difficult, and at the current state of medical knowledge, it is focused on reducing the primary and secondary damages caused by the injury, and, later on, on neurological improvement by long-time rehabilitation.…”

“…Treatment is difficult, and at the current state of medical knowledge, it is focused on reducing the primary and secondary damages caused by the injury, and, later on, on neurological improvement by long-time rehabilitation. Full functional recovery in the case of major trauma is seldom possible to date [1][2][3][4][5][6][7][8][9][10][11][12][13][14][15].…”