Electrospun silk fibroin/polylactic acid conduit filled with proangiogenic carboxylated silk fibroin/chitosan hydrogel facilitates peripheral nerve regeneration

作者：Runzhi Xiang, Jialu Chen, Jiarui Dang, Hong Zhu, Zhihui Ran, Yuehan Dong, Xiangjie Wu, Yuran Yang, Huan Deng, Chengjie Xiong, Zhijun Huang, Peihu Xu, Wenjin Xu, Haixing Xu · 发表于：International Journal of Polymeric Materials · 年份：2024 · DOI：10.1080/00914037.2024.2338138 · 被引用次数：9 · 研究领域：Nerve injury and regeneration、Electrospun Nanofibers in Biomedical Applications、Silk-based biomaterials and applications

Angiogenesis plays a crucial role in peripheral nerve regeneration after injury. We introduce a proangiogenic hydrogel-filled nerve conduit, designed to promote peripheral nerve regeneration. The hydrogel was synthesized by chemically crosslinking carboxylated silk fibroin (cSF) and chitosan (CS), enriched with vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) to initiate angiogenesis. Complementarily, a nerve conduit was fabricated using coaxial electrospinning of poly-lactic acid (PLA), silk fibroin (SF), and ibuprofen (IBU) was incorporated to further support nerve regeneration. The hydrogel exhibited optimal properties including rapid gelation, uniform porosity and full biodegradation within four weeks. The nerve conduit, on the other hand, displayed enhanced mechanical strength, elasticity, and controlled biodegradability. In vitro assays demonstrated a sustained release of VEGF and IBU, which significantly enhanced cell adhesion, proliferation, migration and angiogenesis in Human umbilical vein endothelial cells (HUVEC), as well as promoted adhesion and proliferation in rat Schwann cells (RSC96). This proangiogenic hydrogel-filled nerve conduit thus emerged as a potent candidate for advancing peripheral nerve regeneration.