Self-assembling peptide nanofiber scaffold promotes the reconstruction of acutely injured brain

Guo, Jiasong; Leung, Ka Kit Gilberto; Su, Huanxing; Yuan, Qiuju; Wang, Li; Chu, Tak-Ho; Zhang, Wenming; Pu, Jenny Kan Suen; Ng, Gloria Kowk Po; Wong, Wai Man; Dai, Xiang; Wu, Wutian

doi:10.1016/j.nano.2008.12.001

« Previous Next »Nanomedicine: Nanotechnology, Biology and Medicine
Volume 5, Issue 3 , Pages 345-351, September 2009

Self-assembling peptide nanofiber scaffold promotes the reconstruction of acutely injured brain

Jiasong Guo, PhD
- Department of Anatomy, Li Ka Shing Faculty of Medicine, The University of Hong Kong, Pokfulam, Hong Kong SAR, China
- Department of Histology and Embryology, Southern Medical University, Guangzhou, China
- These authors contributed equally to this work.
Ka Kit Gilberto Leung, MD
- Department of Surgery, Li Ka Shing Faculty of Medicine, The University of Hong Kong, Pokfulam, Hong Kong SAR, China
- These authors contributed equally to this work.
Huanxing Su, PhD
- Department of Anatomy, Li Ka Shing Faculty of Medicine, The University of Hong Kong, Pokfulam, Hong Kong SAR, China
Qiuju Yuan, PhD
- Department of Anatomy, Li Ka Shing Faculty of Medicine, The University of Hong Kong, Pokfulam, Hong Kong SAR, China
Li Wang, PhD
- Department of Anatomy, Li Ka Shing Faculty of Medicine, The University of Hong Kong, Pokfulam, Hong Kong SAR, China
Tak-Ho Chu, PhD
- Department of Anatomy, Li Ka Shing Faculty of Medicine, The University of Hong Kong, Pokfulam, Hong Kong SAR, China
Wenming Zhang, MD
- Department of Anatomy, Li Ka Shing Faculty of Medicine, The University of Hong Kong, Pokfulam, Hong Kong SAR, China
Jenny Kan Suen Pu, MD
- Department of Surgery, Li Ka Shing Faculty of Medicine, The University of Hong Kong, Pokfulam, Hong Kong SAR, China
Gloria Kowk Po Ng, BSc
- Department of Surgery, Li Ka Shing Faculty of Medicine, The University of Hong Kong, Pokfulam, Hong Kong SAR, China
Wai Man Wong, MS
- Department of Anatomy, Li Ka Shing Faculty of Medicine, The University of Hong Kong, Pokfulam, Hong Kong SAR, China
Xiang Dai, MD
- Department of Histology and Embryology, Southern Medical University, Guangzhou, China
Wutian Wu, MD, PhD
- Department of Anatomy, Li Ka Shing Faculty of Medicine, The University of Hong Kong, Pokfulam, Hong Kong SAR, China
- State Key Laboratory for Brain and Cognitive Sciences, Li Ka Shing Faculty of Medicine, The University of Hong Kong, Pokfulam, Hong Kong SAR, China
- Research Center of Reproduction, Development and Growth, Li Ka Shing Faculty of Medicine, The University of Hong Kong, 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 3 June 2008; accepted 6 December 2008. published online 19 December 2008.

Abstract

Traumatic brain injury (TBI) or brain surgery may cause extensive loss of cerebral parenchyma. However, no strategy for reconstruction has been clinically effective. Our previous study had shown that self-assembling peptide nanofiber scaffold (SAPNS) can bridge the injured spinal cord, elicit axon regeneration, and eventually promote locomotor functional recovery. In the present study we investigated the effect of SAPNS for the reconstruction of acutely injured brain. The lesion cavity of the injured cortex was filled with SAPNS or saline immediately after surgically induced TBI, and the rats were killed 2 days, 2 weeks, or 6 weeks after the surgery for histology, immunohistochemistry, and TUNEL studies. Saline treatment in the control animals resulted in a large cavity in the injured brain, whereas no cavity of any significant size was found in the SAPNS-treated animals. Around the lesion site in control animals were many macrophages (ED1 positive) but few TUNEL-positive cells, indicating that the TBI caused secondary tissue loss mainly by means of necrosis, not apoptosis. In the SAPNS-treated animals the graft of SAPNS integrated well with the host tissue with no obvious gaps. Moreover, there were fewer astrocytes (GFAP positive) and macrophages (ED1 positive) around the lesion site in the SAPNS-treated animals than were found in the controls. Thus, SAPNS may help to reconstruct the acutely injured brain and reduce the glial reaction and inflammation in the surrounding brain tissue.

From the Clinical Editor

Self-assembling peptide nanofiber scaffold (SAPNS) was reported earlier to bridge the injured spinal cord, elicit axon regeneration, and promote locomotor recovery. In this study the effect of SAPNS for the reconstruction of acutely injured brain was investigated. In SAPNS-treated animals the graft integrated well with the host tissue with no obvious gaps. SAPNS may help to reconstruct the acutely injured brain and reduced the glial reaction and inflammation in the surrounding brain tissue.

Key words: Self-assembling peptide nanofiber scaffold, Traumatic brain injury, Reconstruction, Inflammation