Nano bioglass enhanced peripheral nerve regeneration in PGA/collagen conduits

Unlike central nervous system, a peripheral nervous system has a remarkable capability of intrinsic recovery, but in severe injuries the repair process is very weak. If the gap is more than 1 or 2 cm, stitching of the two ends of the nerve due to stretching is not appropriate. In such cases, natural and artificial neural grafts are used to fill the gap. In this study three types of conduits (PGA, PGA/Collagen and PGA/Collagen/NBG) were produced using electrospinning method. For investigating the ability of cellular attachment to the scaffold’s surface, the mouse bone marrow mesenchymal stem cells were isolated and identified and they were cultured on scaffolds for 3 days and then cellular attachment to the scaffold’s surface was investigated by SEM. In order to investigate the morphology and fiber diameter, biocompatibility and hydrophilicity properties of conduits, SEM, MTT and contact angle were used, respectively. To assess the degradability of conduits, they were placed in PBS solution for 5 weeks and the weight loss of conduits was measured at the end of the 5th week. The attachment ability of mesenchymal stem cells to the conduit’s surface confirmed by SEM. Fiber diameter of PGA, P/C and P /C /B conduits evaluated by Image J software and determined to be 200-400, 100-300 and 100-300 nm, respectively. MTT test showed a significant difference (P <0.05) between PGA, P/C and P/C/B groups comparing to control group (TCP). In group P/C/B, a significant difference was observed (p <0.001) also there was a significant difference (p <0.05) between P/C/B group with PGA and P/C groups. The contact angle test showed the values of 90.70, 63.40 and 550 for PGA, P/C and P/C/B, respectively, which indicates that P/C/B conduits are more hydrophilic than others and PGA has the least hydrophilicity. Results showed that, Scaffolds made in this project have a good biocompatibility and biodegradability and also have adequate resistance to nerve repair. P/C/B scaffolds have better biodegradability and biocompatibility than PGA and P/C, and therefore they are more favorable for nerve repair.

Keywords:

Regeneration , Peripheral nerve , Neural guidance channel , Tissue engineering