Leibniz-Institut für Polymerforschung Dresden e.V., Hohe Str. 6, 01069, Dresden, Germany.
Leibniz-Institut für Polymerforschung Dresden e.V., Hohe Str. 6, 01069, Dresden, Germany; Technische Universität Dresden, Center for Regenerative Therapies Dresden, Dresden, Germany.
Neurochem Int. 2021 Jul;147:105012. doi: 10.1016/j.neuint.2021.105012. Epub 2021 Mar 14.
Biomaterials in the form of 3D polymeric scaffolds have been used to create structurally and functionally biomimetic constructs of nervous system tissue. Such constructs can be used to model defects and disease or can be used to supplement neuronal tissue regeneration and repair. One such group of biomaterial scaffolds are hydrogels, which have been widely investigated for cell/tissue culture and as cell or molecule delivery systems in the field of neurosciences. However, a subset of hydrogels called cryogels, have shown to possess several distinct structural advantages over conventional hydrogel networks. Their macroporous structure, created via the time and resource efficient fabrication process (cryogelation) not only allows mass fluid transport throughout the structure, but also creates a high surface area to volume ratio for cell growth or drug loading. In addition, the macroporous structure of cryogels is ideal for applications in the central nervous system as they are very soft and spongey, yet also robust, which makes them a user-friendly and reproducible tool to address neuroscience challenges. In this review, we aim to provide the neuroscience community, who may not be familiar with the fundamental concepts of cryogels, an accessible summary of the basic information that pertain to their use in the brain and nervous tissue. We hope that this review shall initiate creative ways that cryogels could be further adapted and employed to tackle unsolved neuroscience challenges.
以 3D 聚合物支架形式存在的生物材料已被用于构建具有神经系统组织结构和功能仿生特性的构建体。这些构建体可用于模拟缺陷和疾病，或用于补充神经元组织的再生和修复。生物材料支架的一类是水凝胶，它已被广泛研究用于细胞/组织培养，并作为细胞或分子递释系统在神经科学领域。然而，水凝胶的一个子集——冷冻凝胶，相较于传统的水凝胶网络，具有几个明显的结构优势。通过时间和资源高效的制造工艺（冷冻凝胶化）形成的大孔结构不仅允许大量流体在整个结构中传输，而且还为细胞生长或药物负载创造了高表面积与体积比。此外，冷冻凝胶的大孔结构非常适合应用于中枢神经系统，因为它们非常柔软且有弹性，但又很坚固，使其成为解决神经科学挑战的用户友好且可重复使用的工具。在这篇综述中，我们旨在为神经科学界提供一份易于理解的概述，内容涉及与冷冻凝胶在大脑和神经组织中的应用相关的基本信息，希望这篇综述能够为进一步适应和利用冷冻凝胶来解决未解决的神经科学挑战提供一些思路。
