Carbon nanomaterials and their applications in nerve tissueengineering: review article

Regeneration strategies of nerve tissue after injury have received a great deal of attention because it directly changes the quality of the patient s life. There are very scientific challenges to repair nerve from the recently developed therapeutic strategies for the regeneration of injured nerves. Recent developments in nerve regeneration have involved the use of tissue engineering principles and this has opened a new prospect for neural therapy. The progress of neural tissue engineering is mainly based on the arrangement of cell behavior and tissue improvement through the development of a composite scaffold that is similar to the natural extracellular matrix and can protect three-dimensional cell cultures. Nanotechnology suggests new prospects in the field of innovative medicine, especially for repair and regeneration of damaged nerve tissues in the peripheral and central nervous systems (PNS and CNS, respectively) of the human body. Carbon nanomaterials, due to their unique chemical, physical and biological properties, are currently noticed as a promising candidate for using in nerve tissue engineering. Conductive scaffold with carbon nanomaterials prepares an ideal environment for electrical and chemical cues to the proliferation and adhesion of neural cells, therefore exists a requirement to develop a scaffold that would be biocompatible, immunologically inert and conducting biomaterial to support neurite outgrowth. This review discusses the potential applications of different carbon nanomaterials containing carbon nanotubes, nanofibers for regeneration and excitation of nerve tissue through the application of appropriate biomaterials and scaffolding techniques for fabrication of a construct that would permit the neurons to adhere, proliferate and finally form nerves.

Keywords:

Carbon , Nerve tissue engineering , Conductive scaffold