Magnetic alignment of injectable hydrogel scaffolds for spinal cord injury repair
Kiet A. Tran, Ying Jin, Julien Bouyer, Brandon J. DeOre, Łukasz Suprewicz, Ana Figel, Hannah Walens, Itzhak Fischer, Peter A. Galie
Abstract
, hMSC-seeded peptide hydrogels are injected at the site of a contusion spinal cord injury with and without the presence of a magnetic field to align the resulting fibrous network. Measurements of axon growth and orientation as well as inflammation and glial scar formation indicate that these metrics are improved in magnetically aligned hMSC-seeded hydrogels. The results verify that MR hydrogels can dictate the orientation of infiltrating axons, providing a viable means to control the topology of injectable scaffolds.
Topics & Concepts
Self-healing hydrogelsAxonTissue engineeringBiomedical engineeringSpinal cord injuryNeural tissue engineeringMesenchymal stem cellRegeneration (biology)ScaffoldSpinal cordMaterials scienceChemistryBiophysicsNanotechnologyAnatomyCell biologyNeuroscienceMedicinePolymer chemistryBiologyTissue Engineering and Regenerative MedicineHydrogels: synthesis, properties, applicationsNerve injury and regeneration