Multichannel nerve conduit based on chitosan derivates for peripheral nerve regeneration and Schwann cell survival. (1st February 2023) - Jiang, Zhiwen
Abstract: In this study, a chitosan-based composite multichannel nerve conduit consisting of a warp-knitted chitosan scaffold and internally oriented N -succinyl-chitosan (NS-chitosan) fibers was applied to bridge a 10-mm nerve defect in rats. This study confirmed that an external pipeline with appropriate mechanical support was obtained by warp knitting techniques and that NS-chitosan fibers were not toxic to L-929 and PC-12 cells. These fibers degraded slowly for over 90 days and exerted sustained neuroprotective effects on peripheral nerves through their ability to drive cellular migration, promote survival, and block apoptosis of damaged Schwann cells through the Bcl-2/Bax/caspase-3 pathway. The multichannel chitosan/NS-chitosan conduit represented a histologically and functionally successful nerve reconstruction across a damaged 10-mm peripheral nerve model, showing regenerative efficacy equal to that of an autograft. The results demonstrated that the chitosan/NS-chitosan conduit with a warp-knitted tube construct and aligned inner fiber had good mechanical and bioactive properties for nerve repair. Graphical abstract: Unlabelled Image Highlights: Multichannel conduit is from warp-knitted CTS pipeline and oriented NS-CTS fiber. Superior mechanical properties of CTS nerve conduits are achieved via warp knitting. The inner NS-CTS fiber exhibits nice biocompatibility in absence of bioactive compound. CTS/NS-CTS conduit shows successful repair on damaged 10-mm peripheral nerves rat. NS-CTS promotes the cell migration and protect Schwann from injury induced by H2O2.