VPA/PLGA microfibers produced by coaxial electrospinning for the treatment of central nervous system injury

Abstract

The central nervous system shows limited regenerative capacity after injury. Spinal cord injury (SCI) is a devastating traumatic injury resulting in loss of sensory, motor, and autonomic function distal from the level of injury. An appropriate combination of biomaterials and bioactive substances is currently thought to be a promising approach to treat this condition. Systemic administration of valproic acid (VPA) has been previously shown to promote functional recovery in animal models of SCI. In this study, VPA was encapsulated in poly(lactic-co-glycolic acid) (PLGA) microfibers by the coaxial electrospinning technique. Fibers showed continuous and cylindrical morphology, randomly oriented fibers, and compatible morphological and mechanical characteristics for application in SCI. Drug-release analysis indicated a rapid release of VPA during the first day of the in vitro test. The coaxial fibers containing VPA supported adhesion, viability, and proliferation of PC12 cells. In addition, the VPA/PLGA microfibers induced the reduction of PC12 cell viability, as has already been described in the literature. The biomaterials were implanted in rats after SCI. The groups that received the implants did not show increased functional recovery or tissue regeneration compared to the control. These results indicated the cytocompatibility of the VPA/PLGA core-shell microfibers and that it may be a promising approach to treat SCI when combined with other strategies.

Nanotechnology for the Treatment of Spinal Cord Injury

“…PLA scaffolds produced by electrospinning maintained neuronal survival, promoted the spread of neurites, reduced tissue damage, and increased axonal regeneration. 70 Similarly, PLGA can be electrospun to form scaffolds that function as bridges 72,73 or to form microparticles used as drug delivery systems to the injured spinal cord. PLGA fibers promote axonal regeneration and when associated with drugs or growth factors, improve motor function.…”

“…PLGA fibers promote axonal regeneration and when associated with drugs or growth factors, improve motor function. [72][73][74][75] PCL is a polymer that presents a more lengthy degradation cycle, allowing it to be implemented as a scaffold for cell transplantation and for better integration of the transplanted cells in the host tissue. 63 Some of the studies applied coaxial electrospinning, which is one of the most successful technologies for incorporating biomolecules in scaffolds.…”

“…However, the implanted biomaterials did not promote any improvement in the functional recovery or any as in tissue regeneration in the rat animal model. 73 Other Neural Tissue Engineering Approaches to SCI…”

Utilization of GelMA with phosphate glass fibers for glial cell alignment

“…Over the past few decades, various types of biomaterial scaffolds, processed by methods such as electrospun nanofibers, 6 freeze dried/solvent cast, 7 self‐assembly, gas foaming and hydrogels 8‐11 have been investigated for neural tissue regeneration. These studies suggest that polymer‐based biomaterial scaffolds can be used to repair CNS injury, alter the microenvironment of lesions, and promote the recovery of neural function 12 .…”

New Insight of Circular RNAs' Roles in Central Nervous System Post-Traumatic Injury

“…Similarly, SCI is a destructive and traumatic injury that involves primary and secondary injury (Wang and Song, 2019 ; Ma et al, 2020 ). It can lead to loss of sensory, motor, and autonomic nerve function (Chen et al, 2019a ; Reis et al, 2020 ; Wang et al, 2020c ). The regeneration capacity of the CNS is very limited (Ma et al, 2019 ; Radabaugh et al, 2020 ).…”