Department of Neurosurgery, Huizhou Third People's Hospital, Guangzhou Medical University, Huizhou, China.
Department of Neurosurgery, First Affiliated Hospital of Anhui Medical University, Hefei City, China.
Artif Organs. 2021 Jun;45(6):616-624. doi: 10.1111/aor.13881. Epub 2021 Jan 22.
Nerve growth factor (NGF) is important for peripheral nerve regeneration. However, its short half-life and rapid diffusion in body fluids limit its clinical efficacy. Collagen has favorable biocompatibility and biodegradability, and weak immunogenicity. Because it possesses an NGF binding domain, we cross-linked heparin to collagen tubes to construct nerve guidance conduits for delivering NGF. The conduits were implanted to bridge a facial nerve defect in rats. Histological and functional analyses were performed to assess the effect of the nerve guidance conduit on facial nerve regeneration. Heparin enhanced the binding of NGF to collagen while retaining its bioactivity. Also, the nerve guidance conduit significantly promoted axonal growth and Schwan cell proliferation at 12 weeks after surgery. The nerve regeneration and functional recovery outcomes using the nerve guidance conduit were similar to those of autologous nerve grafting. Therefore, the nerve guidance conduit may promote safer nerve regeneration.
神经生长因子（NGF）对于周围神经再生很重要。然而，其半衰期短，在体液中扩散迅速，限制了其临床疗效。胶原蛋白具有良好的生物相容性、可生物降解性和较弱的免疫原性。由于其具有 NGF 结合域，我们将肝素交联到胶原蛋白管中，构建用于输送 NGF 的神经引导导管。将导管植入以桥接大鼠面神经缺损。进行组织学和功能分析以评估神经引导导管对面神经再生的影响。肝素增强了 NGF 与胶原蛋白的结合，同时保留了其生物活性。此外，神经引导导管在手术后 12 周时显著促进了轴突生长和施万细胞增殖。神经再生和功能恢复的结果与自体神经移植相似。因此，神经引导导管可能促进更安全的神经再生。
