title: Repair of spinal cord injury by implantation of bFGF-incorporated HEMA-MOETACL hydrogel in rats.
abstract: There is no effective strategy for the treatment of spinal cord injury (SCI). An appropriate combination of hydrogel materials and neurotrophic factor therapy is currently thought to be a promising approach. In this study, we performed experiments to evaluate the synergic effect of implanting hydroxyl ethyl methacrylate [2-(methacryloyloxy)ethyl] trimethylammonium chloride (HEMA-MOETACL) hydrogel incorporated with basic fibroblast growth factor (bFGF) into the site of surgically induced SCI. Prior to implantation, the combined hydrogel was surrounded by an acellular vascular matrix. Sprague-Dawley rats underwent complete spinal cord transection at the T-9 level, followed by implantation of bFGF/HEMA-MOETACL 5 days after transection surgery. Our results showed that the bFGF/HEMA-MOETACL transplant provided a scaffold for the ingrowth of regenerating tissue eight weeks after implantation. Furthermore, this newly designed implant promoted both nerve tissue regeneration and functional recovery following SCI. These results indicate that HEMA-MOETACL hydrogel is a promising scaffold for intrathecal, localized and sustained delivery of bFGF to the injured spinal cord and provide evidence for the possibility that this approach may have clinical applications in the treatment of SCI.
authors.affiliation: Translational Medicine Center, Hong Hui Hospital, Xi'an Jiaotong University College of Medicine, Xi'an, 710054, China.
authors.forename: Bo
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Chen
authors.affiliation: Department of Pharmacology, Xi'an Jiaotong University College of Medicine, Xi'an, 710061, China.
authors.forename: Jianyu
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: He
authors.affiliation: Translational Medicine Center, Hong Hui Hospital, Xi'an Jiaotong University College of Medicine, Xi'an, 710054, China.
authors.forename: Hao
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Yang
authors.affiliation: Translational Medicine Center, Hong Hui Hospital, Xi'an Jiaotong University College of Medicine, Xi'an, 710054, China.
authors.forename: Qian
authors.initials: Q
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.affiliation: Translational Medicine Center, Hong Hui Hospital, Xi'an Jiaotong University College of Medicine, Xi'an, 710054, China.
authors.forename: Lingling
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.affiliation: School of Advanced Materials and Nanotechnology, Xidian University, Xi'an, 710126, China.
authors.forename: Xian
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.affiliation: Department of Spine Surgery, Hong Hui Hospital, Xi'an Jiaotong University College of Medicine, Xi'an, 710054, China.
authors.forename: En
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Xie
authors.affiliation: Translational Medicine Center, Hong Hui Hospital, Xi'an Jiaotong University College of Medicine, Xi'an, 710054, China.
authors.forename: Cuicui
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Liu
authors.affiliation: Translational Medicine Center, Hong Hui Hospital, Xi'an Jiaotong University College of Medicine, Xi'an, 710054, China.
authors.forename: Rui
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.affiliation: Translational Medicine Center, Hong Hui Hospital, Xi'an Jiaotong University College of Medicine, Xi'an, 710054, China.
authors.forename: Yi
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.affiliation: Translational Medicine Center, Hong Hui Hospital, Xi'an Jiaotong University College of Medicine, Xi'an, 710054, China.
authors.forename: Linhong
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Huang
authors.affiliation: Department of Spine Surgery, Hong Hui Hospital, Xi'an Jiaotong University College of Medicine, Xi'an, 710054, China.
authors.forename: Dingjun
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Hao
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001369:Axons / Q000187:drug effects; D001522:Behavior, Animal / Q000187:drug effects; D002794:Choline / Q000031:analogs & derivatives / Q000737:chemistry; D004195:Disease Models, Animal; D016222:Fibroblast Growth Factor 2 / Q000008:administration & dosage*; D020136:Hydrogel, Polyethylene Glycol Dimethacrylate / Q000737:chemistry; D008124:Locomotion / Q000187:drug effects; D008297:Male; D008689:Methacrylates / Q000737:chemistry; D018919:Neovascularization, Physiologic / Q000187:drug effects; D009416:Nerve Regeneration / Q000187:drug effects; D009431:Neural Conduction / Q000187:drug effects; D051381:Rats; D013119:Spinal Cord Injuries / Q000503:physiopathology / Q000601:surgery / Q000628:therapy*
chemical_list: C545433:2-methacryloyloxyethyltriethylammonium; D008689:Methacrylates; D016222:Fibroblast Growth Factor 2; D020136:Hydrogel, Polyethylene Glycol Dimethacrylate; C005044:hydroxyethyl methacrylate; D002794:Choline