Department of Physiology, School of Basic Medical Sciences, Cheeloo College of Medicine, Shandong University, 44 Wenhua Xi Road, Jinan, Shandong, 250012, P. R. China.
State Key Laboratory of Crystal Materials, Shandong University, 27 Shanda Nanlu, Jinan, Shandong, 250100, P. R. China.
Adv Sci (Weinh). 2023 Jan;10(3):e2204528. doi: 10.1002/advs.202204528. Epub 2022 Dec 1.
Spinal cord injury (SCI) damages signal connections and conductions, with the result that neuronal circuits are disrupted leading to neural dysfunctions. Such injuries represent a serious and relatively common central nervous system condition and current treatments have limited success in the reconstruction of nerve connections in injured areas, especially where sizeable gaps are present. Biomaterial scaffolds have become an effective alternative to nerve transplantation in filling these gaps and provide the foundation for simulating the 3D structure of solid organs. However, there remain some limitations with the application of 3D bioprinting for preparation of biomaterial scaffolds. Here, the approach in constructing and testing mini-tissue building blocks and self-assembly, solid 3D gelatin microsphere (GM) scaffolds with multiple voids as based on the convenient preparation of gelatin microspheres by microfluidic devices is described. These 3D GM scaffolds demonstrate suitable biocompatibility, biodegradation, porosity, low preparation costs, and relative ease of production. Moreover, 3D GM scaffolds can effectively bridge injury gaps, establish nerve connections and signal transductions, mitigate inflammatory microenvironments, and reduce glial scar formation. Accordingly, these 3D GM scaffolds can serve as a novel and effective bridging method to promote nerve regeneration and reconstruction and thus recovery of nerve function after SCI.
脊髓损伤（SCI）破坏信号连接和传导，导致神经元回路中断，从而导致神经功能障碍。这种损伤代表了一种严重且相对常见的中枢神经系统疾病，目前的治疗方法在受损区域神经连接的重建方面仅取得有限的成功，特别是在存在较大间隙的情况下。生物材料支架已成为神经移植的有效替代方法，用于填补这些间隙，并为模拟实体器官的 3D 结构提供基础。然而，3D 生物打印在制备生物材料支架方面的应用仍然存在一些局限性。在这里，我们描述了一种构建和测试微型组织构建块和自组装的方法，即基于微流控装置方便地制备明胶微球，构建具有多个空隙的固态 3D 明胶微球（GM）支架。这些 3D GM 支架具有良好的生物相容性、可生物降解性、多孔性、低制备成本和相对容易的生产。此外，3D GM 支架可以有效地桥接损伤间隙，建立神经连接和信号转导，减轻炎症微环境，减少神经胶质瘢痕形成。因此，这些 3D GM 支架可以作为一种新颖有效的桥接方法，促进 SCI 后的神经再生和重建，从而恢复神经功能。
