Zhou You Lang, Yang Qian Qian, Zhang Luzhong, Tang Jin Bo
The Nanomedicine Research Laboratory, Research for Frontier Medicine and Hand Surgery Research Center, Department of Hand Surgery, Affiliated Hospital of Nantong University, Nantong 226001, Jiangsu, China.
The Nanomedicine Research Laboratory, Research for Frontier Medicine and Hand Surgery Research Center, Department of Hand Surgery, Affiliated Hospital of Nantong University, Nantong 226001, Jiangsu, China.
Acta Biomater. 2021 Apr 1;124:301-314. doi: 10.1016/j.actbio.2021.01.008. Epub 2021 Jan 11.
Tendon injuries are common diseases. The healing capacity of tendon is limited due to its special composition of extra-cellular matrix and hypocellularity and hypovascularity. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effectiveness of nanoparticle-coated sutures carrying growth factors for accelerating tendon repair. A variety of experimental methods had been used to investigate the characteristics and therapeutic effects of the modified sutures. Nanoparticles could adhere uniformly to the surface of the suture through polydopamine. Even sutured in the tendon, most of nanoparticles were still remained on the surface of suture, and the loaded proteins could spread into the tendon tissues. In vivo study, the ultimate strength of repaired tendons treated with bFGF and VEGFA-releasing sutures was significantly greater than the tendons repaired with control sutures at multiple time-points, whether in the chicken model of flexor tendon injury or the rat model of Achilles tendon injury. At week 6, the adhesion score in the bFGF and VEGFA-releasing suture group was significantly lower than those of the control suture group. Tendon gliding excursion was significantly longer in the bFGF and VEGFA-releasing suture group than that in the control bare sutures. Work of digital flexion was significantly decreased in the bFGF and VEGFA-releasing suture group. In a word, we developed a platform for local and continuous delivery of growth factors based on the nanoparticle-coated sutures, which could effectively deliver growth factors to tissues and control the release of growth factors. This growth factors delivery system is an attractive therapeutic tool to repair injured tendons. STATEMENT OF SIGNIFICANCE: Tendon rupture is a common clinical injury, due to the special character of the tendon with mainly extra cellular matrix and hypocellularity and hypovascularity, the healing capacity of the injured tendon is limited. In this study, nanoparticle-coated surgical sutures carrying growth factors were prepared to accelerate tendon repair. After treatment, bFGF and VEGFA loaded nanoparticle-coated sutures can significantly enhance tendon healing, and significantly improve tendon gliding function and effectively inhibit the formation of adhesion. Moreover, these nanoparticle-coated sutures have good biocompatibility and no obvious tissue reaction, which provides more guarantee for further clinical application. This is an attractive and promising approach that uses surgical suture as a growth factor delivery tool to repair tendon injury, which can simplify the treatment. And this kind of bioactive sutures may be applied to other tissue repair, such as muscle, nerve, intestinal canal, blood vessel, skin, and so on.
肌腱损伤是常见疾病。由于肌腱特殊的细胞外基质组成以及细胞稀少和血管分布少的特点，其愈合能力有限。本研究的目的是评估携带生长因子的纳米颗粒涂层缝线对加速肌腱修复的有效性。已采用多种实验方法来研究改良缝线的特性和治疗效果。纳米颗粒可通过聚多巴胺均匀地附着在缝线表面。即使缝入肌腱，大多数纳米颗粒仍留在缝线表面，且负载的蛋白质可扩散到肌腱组织中。在体内研究中，无论是在屈肌腱损伤的鸡模型还是跟腱损伤的大鼠模型中，在多个时间点，用释放bFGF和VEGFA的缝线治疗的修复肌腱的极限强度均显著高于用对照缝线修复的肌腱。在第6周时，释放bFGF和VEGFA的缝线组的粘连评分显著低于对照缝线组。释放bFGF和VEGFA的缝线组的肌腱滑动幅度明显长于对照裸缝线组。释放bFGF和VEGFA的缝线组的手指屈曲功明显降低。总之，我们基于纳米颗粒涂层缝线开发了一种用于局部和持续递送生长因子的平台，该平台可有效地将生长因子递送至组织并控制生长因子的释放。这种生长因子递送系统是修复受损肌腱的一种有吸引力的治疗工具。重要性声明：肌腱断裂是常见的临床损伤，由于肌腱主要由细胞外基质组成且细胞稀少和血管分布少的特殊性质，受损肌腱的愈合能力有限。在本研究中，制备了携带生长因子的纳米颗粒涂层手术缝线以加速肌腱修复。治疗后，负载bFGF和VEGFA的纳米颗粒涂层缝线可显著增强肌腱愈合，并显著改善肌腱滑动功能并有效抑制粘连形成。此外，这些纳米颗粒涂层缝线具有良好的生物相容性且无明显的组织反应，这为进一步的临床应用提供了更多保障。这是一种有吸引力且有前景的方法，即使用手术缝线作为生长因子递送工具来修复肌腱损伤，可简化治疗。并且这种生物活性缝线可能适用于其他组织修复，如肌肉、神经、肠道、血管、皮肤等。
