Biocompatibility studies of silk fibroin-based artificial nerve grafts in vitro and in vivo

Biocompatibility studies of silk fibroin-based artificial nerve grafts in vitro and in vivo

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【期刊名称】《自然科学进展（英文版）》 【年(卷),期】2007(017)009

【摘要】Silk fibroin (SF) has been used extensively in the biomedical field including tissue engineering for the generation of artificial bones, skins or ligaments. We have previously reported on good in vitro biocompatibility of SF fibers with peripheral nerve tissues and cells. In the present study, we developed a novel design of the SF-based artificial nerve graft (SF graft) which was composed of a SF-nerve guidance conduit (NGC) inserted with SF fibers. MTT assay was performed to determine the cytotoxicity of the SF-NGC extract fluid on the cultured L929 cells derived from an immortalized mouse fibroblast cell line. In addition, this SF graft was implanted into adult rats for bridging a 10-mm long sciatic nerve defect. The following-up experiments at initial stage (1-4 week) of nerve regeneration including routine blood tests and histochemical investigation were conducted to evaluate the in vivo biocompatibility of the SF graft with peripheral nerves. The results demonstrated that the SF-NGC graft was biocompatible with the surrounding tissues and cells due to its low inflammatory potential with a grade O under the U. S. Pharmacopeia