Three-dimensional aligned nanofibers-hydrogel scaffold for controlled non-viral drug/gene delivery to direct axon regeneration in spinal cord injury treatment

Spinal cord injuries (SCI) often lead to persistent neurological dysfunction due to failure in axon regeneration. Unfortunately, currently established treatments, such as direct drug administration, do not effectively treat SCI due to rapid drug clearance from our bodies. Here, we introduce a three-...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Scientific reports 2017-02, Vol.7 (1), p.42212, Article 42212
Main Authors: Nguyen, Lan Huong, Gao, Mingyong, Lin, Junquan, Wu, Wutian, Wang, Jun, Chew, Sing Yian
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
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Animals
Axons - pathology
Drug Delivery Systems
Female
Gene transfer
Gene Transfer Techniques
Humanities and Social Sciences
Hydrogels
Hydrogels - chemistry
Imaging, Three-Dimensional
Inflammation
Injuries
Intermediate Filaments - metabolism
multidisciplinary
Nanofibers - chemistry
Nerve Regeneration
Neurological complications
Non-coding RNA
Nucleic acids
Rats, Sprague-Dawley
Regeneration
Remyelination
Science
Spinal cord
Spinal Cord - pathology
Spinal Cord - physiopathology
Spinal cord injuries
Spinal Cord Injuries - pathology
Spinal Cord Injuries - physiopathology
Spinal Cord Injuries - therapy
Tissue engineering
Tissue Scaffolds - chemistry
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Description
Summary:Spinal cord injuries (SCI) often lead to persistent neurological dysfunction due to failure in axon regeneration. Unfortunately, currently established treatments, such as direct drug administration, do not effectively treat SCI due to rapid drug clearance from our bodies. Here, we introduce a three-dimensional aligned nanofibers-hydrogel scaffold as a bio-functionalized platform to provide sustained non-viral delivery of proteins and nucleic acid therapeutics (small non-coding RNAs), along with synergistic contact guidance for nerve injury treatment. A hemi-incision model at cervical level 5 in the rat spinal cord was chosen to evaluate the efficacy of this scaffold design. Specifically, aligned axon regeneration was observed as early as one week post-injury. In addition, no excessive inflammatory response and scar tissue formation was triggered. Taken together, our results demonstrate the potential of our scaffold for neural tissue engineering applications.
ISSN:2045-2322
2045-2322
DOI:10.1038/srep42212