Unlike the central nervous system, peripheral nerves can regenerate after injury. However, depending on the size of the lesion, the endogenous regenerative potential is not enough to replace the lost nerve tissue. Many strategies have been used to generate biomaterials capable of restoring nerve functions. Here, we set out to investigate whether adsorbing the extracellular matrix protein, laminin (LM), to poly-ℇ-caprolactone (PCL) filaments would enhance functional nerve regeneration. Initial in vitro studies showed that explants of dorsal root ganglia (DRGs) of P1 neonate mice exhibited stronger neuritogenesis on a substrate of LM that had been previously polymerized (polylaminin [polyLM]) than on ordinary LM. On the other hand, when silicone tubes filled with PCL filaments were used to bridge a 10-mm sciatic nerve gap in rats, only filaments coated with LM improved tissue replacement beyond that obtained with empty tubes. Motor function recovery correlated with tissue replacement as only LM-coated filaments consistently improved motor skills. Finally, analysis of the lateral gastrocnemius muscle revealed that the LM group presented twice the amount of α-bungarotixin–labeled motor plates. In conclusion, although polyLM was more effective in stimulating growth of sensory fibers out of DRGs in vitro, LM adsorbed to PCL filaments exhibited the best regenerative properties in inducing functional motor recovery after peripheral injury in vivo.

与中枢神经系统不同，周围神经可在受伤后再生。但是，根据病变的大小，内源性的再生潜能不足以替代丢失的神经组织。已经使用了许多策略来产生能够恢复神经功能的生物材料。在这里，我们着手研究是否将胞外基质蛋白层粘连蛋白（LM）吸附到聚ε-己内酯（PCL）细丝上会增强神经功能再生。初始体外研究表明，P1新生小鼠的背根神经节（DRG）外植体在先前已聚合的LM基质（polylaminin [polyLM]）上比普通LM表现出更强的神经形成作用。另一方面，当用充满PCL细丝的硅胶管桥接大鼠的10毫米坐骨神经间隙时，只有涂有LM的细丝比空管获得的组织替代性更高。运动功能的恢复与组织更换相关，因为只有LM涂层的细丝可以持续改善运动技能。最后，对腓肠肌外侧肌的分析显示，LM组的α-菌丝体毒素标记的运动板数量是其两倍。总之，尽管polyLM可以更有效地刺激体外DRG中的感觉纤维的生长，LM吸附到PCL细丝表现出最好的再生特性，在体内周围损伤后诱导功能性运动恢复。