GelMA-MXene hydrogel nerve conduits with microgrooves for spinal cord injury repair

Abstract

Repair of spinal cord injury (SCI) depends on microenvironment improvement and the reconnection between injured axons and regenerated neurons. Here, we fabricate a GelMA-MXene hydrogel nerve conduit with electrical conductivity and internal-facing longitudinal grooves and explore its function in SCI repair. It is found that the resultant grooved GelMA-MXene hydrogel could effectively promote the neural stem cells (NSCs) adhesion, directed proliferation and differentiation in vitro. Additionally, when the GelMA-MXene conduit loaded with NSCs (GMN) is implanted into the injured spinal cord site, effective repair capability for the complete transection of SCI was demonstrated. The GMN group shows remarkable nerve recovery and significantly higher BBB scores in comparison to the other groups. Therefore, GMN with the microgroove structure and loaded with NSCs is a promising strategy in treating SCI.

Tunable Light-Actuated Interpenetrating Networks of Silk Fibroin and Gelatin for Tissue Engineering and Flexible Biodevices

“…Swelling ratio is related to porosity, so the dense films used in this study will not swell as much as porous hydrogels. 22,39,40 PF 3 G 1 could have lower swelling ratios due to water-impermeable crystalline regions. 13 Our results therefore agree with previous work wherein the incorporation of SF or SFMA in GelMA decreases swelling ratio and maximum swelling is reached on the order of hours.…”

MXene-Based Nanomaterials for Multifunctional Applications

“…Mxene’s mechanical flexibility, hydrophilicity, and biocompatibility contribute to its use as a material for biomedical applications, including in tissue engineering, drug delivery [ 84 , 85 ], bioimaging, sensors, and as an antibacterial [ 86 ]. Regarding tissue engineering, MXene can be used as a material mainly for bone tissue engineering [ 87 , 88 ], myocardial tissue engineering [ 89 ], and nerve tissue engineering [ 90 ]. MXene/PLLa-PHA composite nanofibers prepared through electrospinning and the doping strategy were used as a smart biomaterial for cell cultures.…”

3D bioprinting of human mesenchymal stem cells-laden hydrogels incorporating MXene for spontaneous osteodifferentiation

“…However, compared to scaffolds using bioinert metals and ceramics such as titanium alloys, stainless steel, zirconium, and alumina, hydrogels exhibit significantly lower mechanical properties than other BTE scaffolds [ 33 , 34 ]. Hydrogel-based nanocomposites can serve as a bone tissue engineering scaffold by incorporating 2D nanomaterials such as graphene or MXene, which enable the creation of 3D cell-laden constructions with adjustable mechanical, structural, and biological properties [ [35] , [36] , [37] ]. MXene nanoparticles (NPs), a two-dimensional nanomaterial with fascinating physicochemical properties, are currently attracting a lot of attention.…”