Lycium barbarum polysaccharide encapsulated Poly lactic-co-glycolic acid Nanofibers: cost effective herbal medicine for potential application in peripheral nerve tissue engineering

Jing Wang,Kwok-Fai So,Xiumei Mo,Liumin He,Lingling Tian,Nuan Chen,Seeram Ramakrishna

doi:10.1038/s41598-018-26837-z

Abstract

Nerve regeneration is a serious clinical challenge following peripheral nerve injury. Lycium barbarum polysaccharide (LBP) is the major component of wolfberry extract, which has been shown to be neuroprotective and promising in nerve recovery in many studies. Electrospun nanofibers, especially core-shell structured nanofibers being capable of serving as both drug delivery system and tissue engineering scaffolds, are well known to be suitable scaffolds for regeneration of peripheral nerve applications. In this study, LBP was incorporated into core-shell structured nanofibrous scaffolds via coaxial electrospinning. Alamar blue assays were performed to investigate the proliferation of both PC12 and Schwann cells cultured on the scaffolds. The neuronal differentiation of PC12 cells was evaluated by NF200 expression with immunostaining and morphology changes observed by SEM. The results indicated that the released LBP dramatically enhanced both proliferation and neuronal differentiation of PC12 cells induced by NGF. Additionally, the promotion of Schwann cells myelination and neurite outgrowth of DRG neurons were also observed on LBP loaded scaffolds by LSCM with immunostaining. In summary, LBP, as a drug with neuroprotection, encapsulated into electrospun nanofibers could be a potential candidate as tissue engineered scaffold for peripheral nerve regeneration.

Highlights

Peripheral nerve injury (PNI) caused by accidents, physical conflict and surgical intervention is a common global clinical problem which can significantly affect the patients’ quality of life
Lycium barbarum polysaccharide (LBP) as the active component extracted from Wolfberry has been shown to be neuroprotective in many studies[17]
Electrospun nanofibers have been widely used as scaffold for peripheral nerve tissue engineering application

Summary

Introduction

Peripheral nerve injury (PNI) caused by accidents, physical conflict and surgical intervention is a common global clinical problem which can significantly affect the patients’ quality of life. When the defect is larger (>10 mm in rats, or >30 mm in humans)[3], retracts after injury and tensionless repair is impossible[4] In this case, graft between nerve stumps is required to bridge the gap and support axonal regrowth. What’s more, the scaffold should have the capacity to deliver drugs and/or signaling factors which can direct the growth and extension of regenerating axons. Electrospun nanofibers have been used extensively as potential scaffold in neural tissue engineering[2]. It provides a conducive environment for cellular functions including adhesion, migration, proliferation and differentiation due to its close imitation of native neural ECM. Electrospun PLGA nanofibers have been used to enhance the sciatic nerve regeneration in rat models[14]

Objectives

Methods

Results

Conclusion