Hu Xiaofang, Wang Xianghai, Xu Yizhou, Li Lixia, Liu Jingmin, He Yutong, Zou Ying, Yu Lei, Qiu Xiaozhong, Guo Jiasong
Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Construction and Detection in Tissue Engineering, Southern Medical University, Guangzhou, Guangdong, 510515, P. R. China.
Department of Histology and Embryology, Southern Medical University, Guangzhou, Guangdong, 510515, P. R. China.
Adv Healthc Mater. 2020 Jun;9(11):e1901570. doi: 10.1002/adhm.201901570. Epub 2020 Apr 27.
Schwann cells (SCs) are the most promising seed cells for peripheral nerve tissue engineering, but clinical applications are limited by the lack of cell sources. Existing data demonstrate that bone marrow mesenchymal stem cells (BMSCs) can be induced to differentiate into Schwann-like cells and aligned nanofibers can enhance the differentiation. Considering that SCs are living along with the electrical conductive axons, it is hypothesized that conductivity properties may play roles in SCs differentiation and then facilitate nerve regeneration. To verify this hypothesis, amine functionalized multi-walled carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs) are incorporated with polycaprolactone and gelatin to fabricate aligned or random conductive nanofibers by electrospinning. Current data demonstrate that MWCNTs can dramatically increase the electrical conductive properties but do not alter the biocompatibility of the nanofibers. It is found that endowing conductive properties into the aligned nanofibers can significantly enhance their capability to promote the SCs differentiation. Furthermore, the aligned and conductive nanofibers with induced BMSCs can dramatically promote peripheral axonal regeneration. Collectively, the present study demonstrates that the conductive properties in the aligned nanofiber plays significant roles in SCs differentiation and the aligned and conductive nanofibers can be used as a promising scaffold for SCs differentiation and peripheral nerve tissue engineering.
雪旺细胞（SCs）是周围神经组织工程中最有前景的种子细胞，但临床应用因细胞来源缺乏而受到限制。现有数据表明，骨髓间充质干细胞（BMSCs）可被诱导分化为雪旺样细胞，且排列的纳米纤维可增强这种分化。考虑到雪旺细胞与导电轴突共生，推测导电特性可能在雪旺细胞分化中起作用，进而促进神经再生。为验证这一假设，将胺功能化多壁碳纳米管（MWCNTs）与聚己内酯和明胶结合，通过静电纺丝制备排列或随机的导电纳米纤维。目前的数据表明，多壁碳纳米管可显著提高导电性能，但不会改变纳米纤维的生物相容性。研究发现，赋予排列的纳米纤维导电特性可显著增强其促进雪旺细胞分化的能力。此外，带有诱导骨髓间充质干细胞的排列且导电的纳米纤维可显著促进周围轴突再生。总体而言，本研究表明排列的纳米纤维中的导电特性在雪旺细胞分化中起重要作用，排列且导电的纳米纤维可用作雪旺细胞分化和周围神经组织工程的有前景的支架。
