Laminin-based Nanomaterials for Peripheral Nerve Tissue Engineering

Peripheral nerve transection occurs commonly in traumatic injury, causing motor and sensory deficits distal to the site of injury. One option for surgical repair is the nerve conduit. Conduits currently on the market are hollow tubes into which the nerve ends are sutured. Although these conduits fill the gap, they often fail due to the slow rate of regeneration over long gaps. To facilitate increased speed of regeneration and greater potential for functional recovery, the ideal conduit should provide biochemically relevant signals and physical guidance cues, thus playing an active role in peripheral nerve regeneration.;In this dissertation, I fabricated laminin-1 and laminin-polycaprolactone (PCL) blend nanofibers that mimic the geometry and functionality of the peripheral nerve basement membrane. These fibers resist hydration in aqueous media and require no harsh chemical crosslinkers. Adhesion and differentiation of both neuron-like and neuroprogenitor cells is improved on laminin nanofibrous meshes over two-dimensional laminin substrates. Blend meshes with varying laminin content were characterized for composition, tensile properties, degradation rates, and bioactivity in terms of cell attachment and axonal elongation. I have established that 10% (wt) laminin content is sufficient to retain the significant neurite-promoting effects of laminin critical in peripheral nerve repair. In addition, I utilized modified collector plate design to manipulate electric field gradients during electrospinning for the fabrication of aligned nanofibers. These aligned substrates provide enhanced directional guidance cues to the regenerating axons.;Finally, I replicated the clinical problem of peripheral nerve transection using a rat tibial nerve defect model for conduit implantation. When the lumens of conduits were filled with nanofiber meshes of varying laminin content and alignment, I observed significant recovery of sensory and motor function over six weeks. This recovery was supported by nerve conduction studies and electromyography which described impulse transmission, muscle stimulation, and foot twitch through the region of regeneration.;These studies provide a firm foundation for the use of natural-synthetic blend electrospun nanofibers to enhance existing hollow nerve guidance conduits. The similarity in surgical technique and obvious benefit to the patient should lead to rapid translation into clinical application.