Reknitting the injured spinal cord by self-assembling peptide nanofiber scaffold

Guo, Jiasong; Su, Huanxing; Zeng, Yuanshan; Liang, Yu-Xiang; Wong, Wai Man; Ellis-Behnke, Rutledge G.; So, Kwok-Fai; Wu, Wutian

doi:10.1016/j.nano.2007.09.003

« Previous Next »Nanomedicine: Nanotechnology, Biology and Medicine
Volume 3, Issue 4 , Pages 311-321, December 2007

Reknitting the injured spinal cord by self-assembling peptide nanofiber scaffold

Jiasong Guo, PhD
- Department of Anatomy, The University of Hong Kong Li Ka Shing Faculty of Medicine, Pokfulam, Hong Kong SAR, China
- Department of Histology and Embryology, Southern Medical University, Guangzhou, China
Huanxing Su, MD
- Department of Anatomy, The University of Hong Kong Li Ka Shing Faculty of Medicine, Pokfulam, Hong Kong SAR, China
Yuanshan Zeng, MD, PhD
- Department of Histology and Embryology, Zhongshan Medical College, Sun Yat-sen University, Guangzhou, China
Yu-Xiang Liang, PhD
- Department of Anatomy, The University of Hong Kong Li Ka Shing Faculty of Medicine, Pokfulam, Hong Kong SAR, China
- State Key Laboratory for Brain and Cognitive Sciences, The University of Hong Kong Li Ka Shing Faculty of Medicine, Pokfulam, Hong Kong SAR, China
Wai Man Wong, MS
- Department of Anatomy, The University of Hong Kong Li Ka Shing Faculty of Medicine, Pokfulam, Hong Kong SAR, China
Rutledge G. Ellis-Behnke, PhD
- Department of Anatomy, The University of Hong Kong Li Ka Shing Faculty of Medicine, Pokfulam, Hong Kong SAR, China
- State Key Laboratory for Brain and Cognitive Sciences, The University of Hong Kong Li Ka Shing Faculty of Medicine, Pokfulam, Hong Kong SAR, China
- Department of Brain and Cognitive Sciences, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, Massachusetts, USA
Kwok-Fai So, PhD
- Department of Anatomy, The University of Hong Kong Li Ka Shing Faculty of Medicine, Pokfulam, Hong Kong SAR, China
- State Key Laboratory for Brain and Cognitive Sciences, The University of Hong Kong Li Ka Shing Faculty of Medicine, Pokfulam, Hong Kong SAR, China
- Research Centre of Heart, Brain, Hormone and Healthy Aging, The University of Hong Kong Li Ka Shing Faculty of Medicine, Pokfulam, Hong Kong SAR, China
Wutian Wu, MD, PhD
- Department of Anatomy, The University of Hong Kong Li Ka Shing Faculty of Medicine, Pokfulam, Hong Kong SAR, China
- State Key Laboratory for Brain and Cognitive Sciences, The University of Hong Kong Li Ka Shing Faculty of Medicine, Pokfulam, Hong Kong SAR, China
- Research Center of Reproduction, Development and Growth, The University of Hong Kong Li Ka Shing Faculty of Medicine, Pokfulam, Hong Kong SAR, China
- Corresponding author. Department of Anatomy, University of Hong Kong Li Ka Shing Faculty of Medicine, Pokfulam, Hong Kong SAR, China.

Received 1 July 2007; accepted 20 September 2007. published online 29 October 2007.

Abstract

In traumatic spinal cord injury, loss of neurological function is due to the inability of damaged axons to regenerate across large, cystic cavities. It has recently been demonstrated that a self-assembled nanofiber scaffold (SAPNS) could repair the injured optical pathway and restore visual function. To demonstrate the possibility of using it to repair spinal cord injury, transplanted neural progenitor cells and Schwann cells were isolated from green fluorescent protein–transgenic rats, cultured within SAPNS, and then transplanted into the transected dorsal column of spinal cord of rats. Here we report the use of SAPNS to bridge the injured spinal cord of rats, demonstrating robust migration of host cells, growth of blood vessels, and axons into the scaffolds, indicating that SAPNS provides a true three-dimensional environment for the migration of living cells.

Key words: Self-assembling peptide, Nanofiber scaffold, Spinal cord injury, Schwann cell, Neural progenitor cell