Peripheral nerve injury (PNI) is a very common consequence of traumatic injury and may cause serious disturbance in mediating functions in the human body. It's an urgent issue to promote the sufficient morphologic and functional regeneration of injured peripheral nerve. In this study, combination of graphene-based conductive fibrous scaffold (GCFS) and exogenous electrical stimulation (ES) were developed as an effective strategy to repair PNI, and the possible mechanisms underlying nerve recovery were further explored. The prepared GCFSs without or with 1.0 wt% graphene possessed electrical conductivity of 5.27 × 10⁻⁶ S/m and 3.12 S/m, respectively. The in vitro studies showed that ES could accelerate migration of rat mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) seeded on the GCFS, promote the secretion of neurotrophic factors, and meanwhile up-regulate gene and protein expressions of neural markers. In vivo studies using a rat sciatic nerve injure model revealed that ES could significantly enhance sciatic nerve regeneration and functional recovery after implantation of GCFS nerve guidance conduit, and the daily ES exhibited repair-promoting capacity comparable to the gold standard autograft. Fundamentally, ES facilitated nerve regeneration maybe partly by the recruitment of endogenous MSCs and modulation of macrophage phenotypes. Taken together, GCFS combined with ES present a feasibility strategy to promote regeneration and functional recovery of the injured peripheral nerve.

周围神经损伤（PNI）是创伤性伤害的非常普遍的后果，可能会严重干扰人体的调解功能。促进受伤的周围神经充分的形态和功能再生是当务之急。在这项研究中，石墨烯基导电纤维支架（GCFS）和外源性电刺激（ES）的组合被开发为修复PNI的有效策略，并进一步探讨了神经恢复的可能机制。所制备的不具有或具有1.0重量％石墨烯的GCFS的电导率分别为5.27×10 ^-6 S / m和3.12 S / m。在体外研究表明，ES可以加速GCFS上接种的大鼠间充质干细胞（MSC）的迁移，促进神经营养因子的分泌，同时上调神经标志物的基因和蛋白质表达。使用大鼠坐骨神经损伤模型的体内研究表明，ES可以显着增强植入GCFS神经引导导管后的坐骨神经再生和功能恢复，并且每日ES表现出与金标准自体移植相当的修复促进能力。从根本上讲，ES可能部分地通过募集内源性MSC和调节巨噬细胞表型来促进神经再生。综上所述，GCFS与ES结合提出了一种可行的策略，以促进受伤的周围神经的再生和功能恢复。