Huang Zirong, Ma Yizhan, Jing Wei, Zhang Yanling, Jia Xiaolong, Cai Qing, Ao Qiang, Yang Xiaoping
State Key Laboratory of Organic-Inorganic Composites, Beijing Laboratory of Biomedical Materials, Beijing University of Chemical Technology, Beijing 100029, China.
Department of Tissue Engineering, China Medical University, Shenyang 110122, China.
ACS Biomater Sci Eng. 2020 Nov 9;6(11):6344-6355. doi: 10.1021/acsbiomaterials.0c01065. Epub 2020 Oct 15.
Nerve regeneration can be promoted using nerve guide conduits (NGCs). Carbon nanotubes (CNTs) are often used to prepare conductive NGCs, however, the major concern for their applications is the final location of the implanted CNTs in vivo. Herein, photoluminescent multiwalled CNTs (MWCNTs) were prepared and electrospun with poly(lactide--glycolide) (PLGA), followed by shaping into multichannel NGCs for repairing of injured rat sciatic nerve, thereby the distribution of CNTs in vivo could be detected via bioimaging. Photoluminescent MWCNTs (MWCNT-FITC) were prepared by functionalization with poly(glycidyl methacrylate) (PGMA) and fluorescein-isothiocyanate-isomer I (FITC) subsequently. The conductivity of the PLGA/MWCNT-FITC fibers was approx. 10 S/cm at 3 wt % MWCNTs. Compared with PLGA fibers, Schwann cells on PLGA/MWCNT-FITC fibers matured at a faster rate, accordingly, nerve regeneration was promoted by the PLGA/MWCNT-FITC NGC. With a confocal laser scanning microscope and small-animal imaging system, the location of MWCNTs was detected. Alongside the degradation of PLGA, MWCNTs intended to aggregate and were entrapped in the regenerated nerve tissue without migrating into surrounding tissues and other organs (liver, kidneys, and spleen). This study provides a useful characterization method for MWCNTs and the guidance for in vivo applications of MWCNTs in tissue engineering.
使用神经导管（NGCs）可以促进神经再生。碳纳米管（CNTs）常用于制备导电神经导管，然而，其应用的主要问题是植入的碳纳米管在体内的最终位置。在此，制备了光致发光多壁碳纳米管（MWCNTs），并与聚（丙交酯-乙交酯）（PLGA）进行电纺，随后成型为多通道神经导管用于修复大鼠坐骨神经损伤，从而可以通过生物成像检测碳纳米管在体内的分布。通过用聚（甲基丙烯酸缩水甘油酯）（PGMA）和异硫氰酸荧光素-异构体I（FITC）进行功能化，制备了光致发光多壁碳纳米管（MWCNT-FITC）。当碳纳米管含量为3 wt%时，PLGA/MWCNT-FITC纤维的电导率约为10 S/cm。与PLGA纤维相比，PLGA/MWCNT-FITC纤维上的雪旺细胞成熟速度更快，因此，PLGA/MWCNT-FITC神经导管促进了神经再生。使用共聚焦激光扫描显微镜和小动物成像系统，检测了碳纳米管的位置。随着PLGA的降解，碳纳米管倾向于聚集并被困在再生神经组织中，而不会迁移到周围组织和其他器官（肝脏、肾脏和脾脏）中。本研究为碳纳米管提供了一种有用的表征方法，并为其在组织工程中的体内应用提供了指导。
