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Efficacy of Large Groove Texture on Rat Sciatic Nerve Regeneration In Vivo Using Polyacrylonitrile Nerve Conduits

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Abstract

Physical guidance cues play an important role in enhancing the efficiency of nerve conduits for peripheral nerve injury repair. However, very few in vivo investigations have been performed to evaluate the repair efficiency of nerve conduits with micro-grooved inner textures. In this study, polyacrylonitrile nerve conduits were prepared using dry-jet wet spinning, and micro-grooved textures were incorporated on the inner surface. The nerve conduits were applied to treat 10 mm sciatic nerve gaps in Sprague–Dawley (SD) rats. Sixteen weeks following implantation, nerve function was evaluated based on heat sensory tests, electrophysiological assessments and gastrocnemius muscle mass measurements. The thermal latency reaction and gastrocnemii weight of SD rats treated with grooved nerve conduits were almost 25% faster and 60% heavier than those of SD rats treated with smooth nerve conduits. The histological and immunohistochemical stain analyses showed the repair capacity of inner grooved conduits was found to be similar to that of autografts. These results suggest that grooved nerve conduits with groove width larger than 300 μm significantly improve peripheral nerve regeneration by introducing physical guidance cues. The obtained results can support the design of nerve conduits and lead to the improvement of nerve tissue engineering strategies.

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Acknowledgments

Authors sincerely thank Chaonan Yu for preparing and housing SD rats. This study was partially supported by the National Key Research and Development Program of China (Grant No. 2018YFA0703000), the Key Research and Development Program of Zhejiang Province (Grant No. 2017C01063), the Science Fund for Creative Research Groups of the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant No. 51821093), the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant No. U1609207, 81873911), the Public Projects of Zhejiang Province (Grant No. 2019C03033), the Zhejiang Medical Science and Technology Project (Grant No. 2019KY569), and the Natural Foundation of Ningbo (Grant No. 2017A610215).

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Author notes

  1. Zonghuan Wang and Yibing Wu have contributed equally to this work.

Authors and Affiliations

  1. The State Key Laboratory of Fluid Power and Mechatronic Systems, School of Mechanical Engineering, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, 310028, China

    Zonghuan Wang, Marie Beatrix Kruth & Jun Yin

  2. Key Laboratory of 3D Printing Process and Equipment of Zhejiang Province, School of Mechanical Engineering, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, 310028, China

    Zonghuan Wang, Marie Beatrix Kruth & Jun Yin

  3. Department of Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery, Ningbo First Hospital, Ningbo, 315010, China

    Yibing Wu, Yang Xiang & Peng Wei

  4. Department of Medical Engineering, Ningbo First Hospital, Ningbo, 315010, China

    Guangli Dai

  5. Qiushi Academy for Advanced Studies (QAAS), Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, 310028, China

    Kedi Xu

  6. Department of Biomedical Engineering, Key Laboratory of Biomedical Engineering of Education Ministry, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, 310028, China

    Kedi Xu

  7. Zhejiang Provincial Key Laboratory of Cardio-Cerebral Vascular Detection Technology and Medicinal Effectiveness Appraisal, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, China

    Kedi Xu

  8. Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL, 32611, USA

    Yong Huang

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  1. Zonghuan Wang
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Correspondence to Peng Wei, Kedi Xu or Jun Yin.

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Wang, Z., Wu, Y., Xiang, Y. et al. Efficacy of Large Groove Texture on Rat Sciatic Nerve Regeneration In Vivo Using Polyacrylonitrile Nerve Conduits. Ann Biomed Eng 49, 394–406 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10439-020-02560-7

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