2022, Vol. 26 ›› Issue (28): 4575-4580

Electrospun fiber-based nerve tissue engineering scaffold: material, function and structure design strategy

Xue Xuexin, Liu Zhepeng   

Abstract: BACKGROUND: In clinical surgery of nerve repair, the donor tissue of autologous nerve grafting is limited, and end-to-end surgical reconnection of the injured nerve ends is not suitable for large gap defects. Therefore, electrospinning nerve scaffold provides a new research idea and direction for nerve tissue engineering.
OBJECTIVE: To summarize the characteristics and manufacturing technology of the electrospinning nerve tissue engineering scaffold in the past three years.
METHODS: With “electrospinning nerve scaffold; nerve scaffold; nerve tissue-engineering” as the Chinese and English search terms, articles on the research and application of electrospinning nerve tissue engineering scaffolds were retrieved on CNKI (2015-2021), PubMed (2015-2021), and Web of Science (2015-2021).
RESULTS AND CONCLUSION: By simulating the composition, structure and characteristics of nerve extracellular matrix, the electrospun scaffold can assist the adhesion, proliferation and differentiation of nerve cells, which is an important research direction in the field of neural tissue engineering. The use of matrix materials with affinity for nerve cells gives it good biocompatibility and mechanical properties. Surface modification and modification of the fiber scaffold to make it functional or add substances that assist nerve cell growth can make the scaffold have special properties (conductivity, hydrophilicity, and so on), enhance biocompatibility, improve mechanical properties, and optimize the scaffold degradation rate in the body (slow release of effective growth substances) to promote the adhesion, proliferation and differentiation of nerve cells on the scaffold. Constructing the nano-fiber topography and the geometrical space structure of the scaffold can promote the adhesion and differentiation of nerve cells, provide a microenvironment for the growth of nerve cells, and enhance the nerve repair ability of the electrospun scaffold. Electrospinning nerve tissue engineering scaffolds provide important research ideas and directions for nerve tissue engineering.
Key words: electrospinning, scaffold, nerve repair, tissue engineering, review, multifunctional