Self-assembling peptide nanofibrous hydrogel as a promising strategy in nerve repair after traumatic injury in the nervous system

Abstract

Following injury in central nervous system (CNS), there are pathological changes in the injured region, which include neuronal death, axonal damage and demyelination, inflammatory response and activation of glial cells. The proliferation of a large number of astrocytes results in the formation of glial scar, with which nerve regeneration after injury is inhibited. Other factors such as inhibitory molecules and poor blood supply around the injured area further intensify the difficulty of nerve repair. Peripheral nervous system has the ability to regenerate at some extent, however, the capacity is limited. Direct end-to-end surgical reconnection becomes a common strategy for the treatment of nerve transection in peripheral nervous system (PNS) when the gap is small ( 1 cm). However, the shortage of donor grafts, the loss of function at the donor sites as well as the requirement of complex surgical procedure restrict the application of autografts (Cao et al., 2009). Another therapeutic measure of PNS injury is allografts and xenografts, however, these treatments are hampered by immunological rejections and chances of disease transfer (Evans et al., 1994). Based on these difficulties in CNS regeneration and shortcomings in PNS repair, biomaterial has shown its potential in tissue repair in recent years.