YesThe structure and dynamics of a single molecule of the nonionic surfactant polysorbate 80 (POE (20)\ud sorbitan monooleate; Tween 80 ) as well as a micelle of polysorbate 80 in water have been investigated\ud by molecular dynamics simulation. In its free state in water the polysorbate 80 molecule samples almost\ud its entire conformational space. The micelle structure is compact and exhibits a prolate ellipsoid shape,\ud with the surface being dominated by the polar terminal groups of the POE chains. The radius of\ud gyration of the micelle was 26.2 A. The physical radius, determined from both the radius of gyration\ud and atomic density, was about 35 A. The estimated diffusion constants for the free molecule (1.8 10 6\ud cm2 s 1) and the micelle (1.8 10 7 cm2 s 1) were found to be remarkably close to the respective\ud experimental values. The lateral diffusion of the molecules on the micelle surface was estimated to be\ud 1.7 10 7 cm2 s 1, which confirms the highly dynamic nature of the micelle structure.Tehran University of Medical Sciences & Health Service

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The current study aimed to enhance the efficacy of peripheral nerve regeneration using an electrically conductive biodegradable porous neural guidance conduit for transplantation of allogeneic Schwann cells (SCs). The conduit was produced from polylactic acid (PLA), multiwalled carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs), and gelatin nanofibrils (GNFs) coated with the recombinant human erythropoietin-loaded chitosan nanoparticles (rhEpo-CNPs). The PLA/MWCNTs/GNFs/rhEpo-CNPs conduit had the porosity of 85.78 ± 0.70%, the contact angle of 77.65 ± 1.91° and the ultimate tensile strength and compressive modulus of 5.51 ± 0.13 MPa and 2.66 ± 0.34 MPa, respectively. The conduit showed the electrical conductivity of 0.32 S cm and lost about 11% of its weight after 60 days in normal saline. The produced conduit was able to release the rhEpo for at least 2 weeks and exhibited favorable cytocompatibility towards SCs. For functional analysis, the conduit was seeded with 1.5 × 10 SCs and implanted into a 10 mm sciatic nerve defect of Wistar rat. After 14 weeks, the results of sciatic functional index, hot plate latency, compound muscle action potential amplitude, weight-loss percentage of wet gastrocnemius muscle and Histopathological examination using hematoxylin-eosin and Luxol fast blue staining demonstrated that the produced conduit had comparable nerve regeneration to the autograft, as the gold standard to bridge the nerve gaps. © 2017 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Biomed Mater Res Part B: Appl Biomater, 106B: 1463-1476, 2018.