title: Cellulose/soy protein composite-based nerve guidance conduits with designed microstructure for peripheral nerve regeneration.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  The objective of this work was to develop nerve guidance conduits from natural polymers, cellulose and soy protein isolate (SPI), by evaluating the effects of cellulose/SPI film-based conduit (CSFC) and cellulose/SPI sponge-based conduit (CSSC) on regeneration of nerve defects in rats.
  
  
  METHODS
  CSFC and CSSC with the same chemical components were fabricated from cellulose and SPI. Effects of CSSC and CSFC on regeneration of the defective nerve were comparatively investigated in rats with a 10 mm long gap in sciatic nerve. The outcomes of peripheral nerve repair were evaluated by a combination of electrophysiological assessment, Fluoro-Gold retrograde tracing, double NF200/S100 immunofluorescence analysis, toluidine blue staining, and electron microscopy. The probable molecular mechanism was investigated using quantitative real-time PCR (qPCR) analysis.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Compared with CSFC, CSSC had 2.69 times higher porosity and 5.07 times higher water absorption, thus ensuring much higher permeability. The nerve defects were successfully bridged and repaired by CSSC and CSFC. Three months after surgery, the CSSC group had a higher compound muscle action potential amplitude ratio, a higher percentage of positive NF200 and S100 staining, and a higher axon diameter and myelin sheath thickness than the CSFC group, showing the repair efficiency of CSSC was higher than that of CSFC. qPCR analysis indicated the mRNA levels of nerve growth factor, IL-10, IL-6, and growth-associated protein 43 (GAP-43) were higher in the CSSC group. This also indicated that there was better nerve repair with CSSC due to the higher porosity and permeability of CSSC providing a more favourable microenvironment for nerve regeneration than CSFC.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  A promising nerve guidance conduit was developed from cellulose/SPI sponge that showed potential for application in the repair of nerve defect. This work also suggests that nerve guidance conduits with better repair efficiency could be developed through structure design and processing optimization.
authors.affiliation: Department of Biomedical Engineering, School of Basic Medical Sciences, Wuhan University, Wuhan 430071, People's Republic of China. Department of Cell Biology, School of Medicine, Wuhan University of Science and Technology, Wuhan 430065, People's Republic of China.
authors.forename: Li
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Gan
authors.forename: Lei
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authors.lastname: Zhao
authors.forename: Yanteng
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authors.lastname: Zhao
authors.forename: Ke
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authors.lastname: Li
authors.forename: Zan
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authors.lastname: Tong
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authors.lastname: Yi
authors.forename: Xiong
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.forename: Yinping
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authors.lastname: Li
authors.forename: Weiqun
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Tian
authors.forename: Xiaohua
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: He
authors.forename: Min
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Zhao
authors.forename: Yan
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Li
authors.forename: Yun
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authors.lastname: Chen