Tissue engineering for the repair of peripheral nerve injury

Peripheral nerve injury (PNI) remains an unresolved challenge in the medicine area. With the development of biomaterial science and tissue engineering, a variety of nerve conduits were widely applied in...

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Intraluminal Guiding Structure of Nerve Conduits for Peripheral Nerve Regeneration

Science of Advanced Materials ◽

10.1166/sam.2020.3720 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 12 (1) ◽

pp. 56-65 ◽

Cited By ~ 2

Author(s):

Tianhao Yu ◽

Yingxi Xu ◽

Xingya Jia ◽

Qiang Ao

Keyword(s):

Tissue Engineering ◽

Peripheral Nerve ◽

Nerve Injury ◽

Peripheral Nerve Injury ◽

Peripheral Nerve Regeneration ◽

Clinical Practices ◽

Nerve Grafts ◽

Nerve Conduits ◽

Engineering Designs ◽

Basement Membrane Collagen

Peripheral nerve injury that can lead to disability affects millions of people worldwide annually. As the gold standard treatment of peripheral nerve injury, autologous nerve grafts are the most widely used and effective, but the clinical application of the treatment is greatly limited by many disadvantages. Tissue engineering nerve conduits gradually become promising autologous nerve grafts alternatives to promote the regeneration of injured nerves. This review places emphasis on tissue engineering designs of physical and topographic guiding structure inside nerve conduits in order to promote the migration of Schwann cells and directional regrowth of axons towards target organs. Various strategies of intraluminal guiding cues have been described and analyzed, including the incorporation with the tissue with natural basement membrane, collagen, microfilaments, intraluminal multi-channel and grooves in the inner wall. Recently, much progress has been made in the development of tissue engineering nerve conduits, but poor curative effect and deficiencies such as axon dispersion and malposition healing still remain unsolved, many crucial factors need to be considered in further research before clinical practices.

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Using Stem Cells to Grow Artificial Tissue for Peripheral Nerve Repair

Stem Cells International ◽

10.1155/2016/7502178 ◽

2016 ◽

Vol 2016 ◽

pp. 1-18 ◽

Cited By ~ 28

Author(s):

Kulraj Singh Bhangra ◽

Francesca Busuttil ◽

James B. Phillips ◽

Ahad A. Rahim

Keyword(s):

Tissue Engineering ◽

Stem Cells ◽

Nervous System ◽

Peripheral Nerve ◽

Nerve Injury ◽

Peripheral Nerve Injury ◽

Nerve Repair ◽

Cell Types ◽

Neural Lineage ◽

Essential Resource

Peripheral nerve injury continues to pose a clinical hurdle despite its frequency and advances in treatment. Unlike the central nervous system, neurons of the peripheral nervous system have a greater ability to regenerate. However, due to a number of confounding factors, this is often both incomplete and inadequate. The lack of supportive Schwann cells or their inability to maintain a regenerative phenotype is a major factor. Advances in nervous system tissue engineering technology have led to efforts to build Schwann cell scaffolds to overcome this and enhance the regenerative capacity of neurons following injury. Stem cells that can differentiate along a neural lineage represent an essential resource and starting material for this process. In this review, we discuss the different stem cell types that are showing promise for nervous system tissue engineering in the context of peripheral nerve injury. We also discuss some of the biological, practical, ethical, and commercial considerations in using these different stem cells for future clinical application.

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