Yan Ruijia, Chen Shu, Wang Bixue, Liu Changsheng, Chen Xi
Key Laboratory for Ultrafine Materials of Ministry of Education, Frontiers Science Center for Materiobiology and Dynamic Chemistry, Engineering Research Center of Biomedical Materials of Ministry of Education, School of Materials Science and Engineering, East China University of Science and Technology, Shanghai 200237, PR China.
Key Laboratory for Ultrafine Materials of Ministry of Education, Frontiers Science Center for Materiobiology and Dynamic Chemistry, Engineering Research Center of Biomedical Materials of Ministry of Education, School of Materials Science and Engineering, East China University of Science and Technology, Shanghai 200237, PR China.
Biomater Adv. 2025 Apr;169:214169. doi: 10.1016/j.bioadv.2024.214169. Epub 2024 Dec 30.
Spinal cord injury (SCI) results in electrophysiological and behavioral dysfunction. Electrical stimulation (ES) is considered to be an effective treatment for mild SCI; however, ES is not applicable to severe SCI due to the disruption of electrical conduction caused by tissue defects. Therefore, the use of conductive materials to fill the defects and restore electrical conduction in the spinal cord is a promising therapeutic strategy. In this study, we used ultrasound to composite conductive reduced graphene oxide (rGO) and magnetic FeO nanoparticles and encapsulated them into gelatin methacryloyl (GelMA) along with decellularized extracellular matrix (dECM) to form a conductive composite hydrogel, rGO/FeO/dECM@GelMA. The rGO/FeO complexes were able to orientate themselves in the hydrogel with a magnetic field, conferring an orientated electrical conduction function to the hydrogel. The implantation of this composite hydrogel re-established the electrical conduction in the damaged spinal cord and synergized with ES to promote the regeneration of neurons and myelinated axons at the injury site, resulting in the restoration of electrophysiological function of the spinal cord and motor function of the hind limbs of mice. Our study combines a conductive tissue-engineered scaffold with ES therapy to improve the efficacy of ES in severe spinal cord injuries and promote the restoration of spinal cord function.
脊髓损伤（SCI）会导致电生理和行为功能障碍。电刺激（ES）被认为是治疗轻度SCI的有效方法；然而，由于组织缺损导致的电传导中断，ES不适用于重度SCI。因此，使用导电材料填充缺损并恢复脊髓中的电传导是一种有前景的治疗策略。在本研究中，我们利用超声将导电还原氧化石墨烯（rGO）与磁性FeO纳米颗粒复合，并将它们与脱细胞细胞外基质（dECM）一起封装到甲基丙烯酰化明胶（GelMA）中，形成导电复合水凝胶rGO/FeO/dECM@GelMA。rGO/FeO复合物能够在磁场作用下在水凝胶中自行排列，赋予水凝胶定向导电功能。植入这种复合水凝胶可重新建立受损脊髓中的电传导，并与ES协同作用，促进损伤部位神经元和有髓轴突的再生，从而恢复小鼠脊髓的电生理功能和后肢的运动功能。我们的研究将导电组织工程支架与ES疗法相结合，以提高ES对重度脊髓损伤的治疗效果，并促进脊髓功能的恢复。
