Fabrication and characterization of polyacrylamide/silk fibroin hydrogels for peripheral nerve regeneration

Abstract

Various hydrogels have been used for repairing peripheral nerve injury; however, the silk fibroin (SF)-based hydrogels in peripheral nerve regeneration are still rarely reported. In this study, the SF/pAM hydrogels with different SF concentrations and ethanol treatment time were developed by solution blending and in situ radical polymerization. The physiochemical properties of composite hydrogels were measured, the cytotoxicity of hydrogels was evaluated by L929 fibroblasts, and the effect on peripheral nerve regeneration was evaluated via Schwann cells culture in vitro. The results showed that the physiochemical properties of SF/pAM hydrogels could be changed by varying SF concentration and ethanol treatment time, and the mechanical property was enhanced with increasing SF concentration, while the presence of SF in pAM hydrogels and ethanol treatment does not affect hydrogels structure in per se. All the composite hydrogels displayed no obvious cytotoxicity, while the SF/pAM composite hydrogels with 10% SF and 60-min ethanol treatment could obviously accelerate the attachment and proliferation of Schwann cells. Therefore, the SF/pAM composite hydrogels possessed the beneficial properties required for in situ cell scaffolding and may have potential application in peripheral nerve regeneration.

Bioactive polymeric scaffolds for tissue engineering

“…The novelty of this study comes from the fact that this is one of the few instances in which a self-healing hydrogel, which is expected to gain major popularity in coming years, has been shown to be effective in vivo for nerve regeneration applications. Silk fibroin-based hydrogels are unfortunately still rarely used for nerve regeneration applications, despite the fact that they have shown little to no cytotoxicity and allow for significant nerve regeneration when used with Schwann cell cultures in vitro [164]. Much of the success of the hydrogel scaffold has to do with stiffness.…”

Review: Bioengineering approach for the repair and regeneration of peripheral nerve

“…Many natural and synthetic materials possess some of these ideal properties, however, none are perfect. Therefore, biomaterial composites of both synthetic and natural materials provides an ideal solution by combining the optimal properties of each component into one system [ 13 , [18] , [19] , [20] ].…”

PAM/GO/gel/SA composite hydrogel conduit with bioactivity for repairing peripheral nerve injury

“…In recent years, hydrogels have been widely used in tissue engineering and nerve regeneration due to their good biocompatibility, water retention and drug‐delivery properties . Ortuno‐Lizaran et al fabricated biodegradable hyaluronic acid hydrogel conduit by chemical cross‐linking, and found that Schwann cells could grow well in the conduit lumen.…”

“…In recent years, hydrogels have been widely used in tissue engineering and nerve regeneration due to their good biocompatibility, water retention and drug-delivery properties. [18][19][20][21][22][23][24] Ortuno-Lizaran et al 25 fabricated biodegradable hyaluronic acid hydrogel conduit by chemical cross-linking, and found that Schwann cells could grow well in the conduit lumen. Gonzalez-Perez et al 26 prepared collagen hydrogel-filled chitosan conduits containing extracellular matrix, the conduit could promote the repair of peripheral nerve injury to a certain extent, which may be used as a potential candidate in the repair of peripheral nerve injury.…”