In vitro model of the glial scar

Abstract

The trauma of central nervous system (CNS) can lead to glial scar, and it can limit the regeneration of neurons at the injured area, which is considered to be a major factor affecting the functional recovery of patients with CNS injury. At present, the study of the glial scar model in vitro is still limited to two-dimensional culture, and the state of the scar in vivo cannot be well mimicked. Therefore, we use a collagen gel and astrocytes to construct a three-dimensional (3D) model in vitro to mimic natural glial scar tissue. The effects of concentration changes of astrocytes on cell morphology, proliferation, and tissue performance were investigated. After 8 days of culture in vitro, the results showed that the tissue model contracted, with a measured shrinkage rate of 4.5%, and the compressive elastic modulus increased to nearly 4 times. Moreover, the astrocytes of the 3D tissue model have the ability of proliferation, hyperplasia, and formation of scar clusters. It indicates that the model we constructed has the characteristics of glial scar tissue to some extent and can provide an in vitro model for the research of glial scar and brain diseases.

The role of neural stem cells in regulating glial scar formation and repair

“…From this point of view, in vitro cellular modelling systems provide a more reductionist approach that can complement findings gathered from experimental animal models. This affords researchers the unique ability to interrogate specific cellular responses and interactions in a well-defined and highly reproducible environment (Fang et al 2019 ).…”

3D Bioprinting of Neurovascular Tissue Modeling with Collagen‐Based Low‐Viscosity Composites

“…In this study, the collagen concentration was set as low as 1 mg mL −1 , which is comparable to the level of the molding method. [37,38,43,46,55,56] Meanwhile, owing to the low stiffness and slow crosslinking rate of low-concentration collagen, alginate was added at the printing stage to transiently crosslink the bioink with calcium ions. A previous study [57] indicated that the addition of sodium alginate may block the gelation of collagen owing to steric effects.…”

“…In this study, the collagen concentration was set as low as 1 mg mL −1 , which is comparable to the level of the molding method. [ 37,38,43,46,55,56 ]…”

“…[33,34] This methodology is beneficial to cell viability because it can protect cells from printing shear stresses. [35] In addition, because the materials used in the indirect printing method have no requirements in terms of rheology or crosslinking time, many natural protein biomaterials with excellent biocompatibility are available, [36] such as collagen, [37][38][39][40] Matrigel, [41] and fibrin. [42] Based on this fabrication method, some functional brain disease models have been successfully constructed, such as the stroke, [43][44][45] neuroinflammation, [46,47] and glioma models.…”

Call for special issues

“…In this July issue, 10 articles are covered. The topics range from the development of new bioinks[ 1 - 5 ] to new bioprinters such as microfluidics-based printers[ 6 , 7 ] and high precision inkjet printer[ 8 ], as well as in vitro 3D tissue models for tissue engineering[ 9 , 10 ].…”