Polydopamine-coated polycaprolactone/carbon nanotube fibrous scaffolds loaded with brain-derived neurotrophic factor for peripheral nerve regeneration.

Carbon nanotubes (CNTs) have attracted increasing attention in the field of peripheral nerve tissue engineering due to their unique structural and physical characteristics. In this study, a novel type of aligned conductive scaffolds composed of polycaprolactone (PCL) and CNTs were fabricated via electrospinning. Utilizing mussel-inspired polydopamine (PDA) surface modification, brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) was loaded onto PCL/CNT fibrous scaffolds to obtain PCL/CNT-PDA-BDNF fibrous scaffolds capable of the sustained release of BDNF over 28 d. Schwann cells were cultured on these scaffolds, and the effect of the scaffolds on peripheral nerve regenerationwas assessed by studying cell proliferation, morphology and the expressions of myelination-related genes S100, P0 and myelin basic protein. Furthermore, the effect of these scaffolds on peripheral nerve regenerationwas investigated using a 10 mm rat sciatic nerve defect model. Both theandresults indicate that PCL/CNT-PDA-BDNF fibrous scaffolds effectively promote sciatic nerve regeneration and functional recovery. Therefore, PCL/CNT-PDA-BDNF fibrous scaffolds have great potential for peripheral nerve restoration.