Page 426 - IJB-9-5

International Journal of Bioprinting

RESEARCH ARTICLE
Micron track chitosan conduit fabricated

by 3D-printed model topography provides
bionic microenvironment for peripheral nerve

regeneration

Meng Zhang , Heng An , Teng Wan , Hao-Ran Jiang , Ming Yang *,
1
1
2†
1
1†
Yong-Qiang Wen *, Pei-Xun Zhang *
2
1
1 Department of Orthopedics and Trauma, Peking University People’s Hospital, Key Laboratory of
Trauma and Neural Regeneration, Peking University, National Center for Trauma Medicine, Beijing
100044, China
2 Beijing Key Laboratory for Bioengineering and Sensing Technology, Daxing Research Institute,
School of Chemistry & Biological Engineering, University of Science & Technology Beijing, Beijing
100083, China
(This article belongs to the Special Issue: Additive Manufacturing of Functional Biomaterials)
Abstract

† These authors contributed equally The micron track conduit (MTC) and nerve factor provide a physical and biological
to this work. model for simulating peripheral nerve growth and have potential applications for
nerve injury. However, it has rarely been reported that they synergize on peripheral
*Corresponding authors:
Ming Yang nerves. In this study, we used bioderived chitosan as a substrate to design and
(bdyangming@aliyun.com) construct a neural repair conduit with micron track topography using three-
Yong-Qiang Wen dimensional (3D) printing topography. We loaded the MTC with neurotrophin-3 (NT-3)
(wyq_wen@ustb.edu.cn) to promote the regeneration of sensory and sympathetic neurons in the peripheral
Pei-Xun Zhang nervous system. We found that the MTC@NT3 composite nerve conduit mimicked
(zhangpeixun@bjmu.edu.cn)
the microenvironment of peripheral nerves and promoted axonal regeneration while
Citation: Zhang M, An H, Wan T, inducing the targeted growth of Schwann cells, which would promote functional
et al., 2023, Micron track chitosan
conduit fabricated by 3D-printed recovery in rats with peripheral nerve injury. Artificial nerve implants with functional
model topography provides bionic properties can be developed using the strategy presented in this study.
microenvironment for peripheral
nerve regeneration. Int J Bioprint,
9(5): 770. Keywords: 3D printing; Micron track conduit; Peripheral nerve regeneration;
https://doi.org/10.18063/ijb.770
Neurotrophin-3; Long-distance injury
Received: March 28, 2023
Accepted: April 30, 2023
Published Online: June 12, 2023
Copyright: © 2023 Author(s). 1. Introduction
This is an Open Access article
distributed under the terms of the The morbidity rate for peripheral nerve injury (PNI) is extremely high [1,2] . Traffic
Creative Commons Attribution accidents, trauma, and iatrogenic causes are the most common causes of PNI . Each year,
[3]
License, permitting distribution,
and reproduction in any medium, approximately 1.6 billion USD is spent on the medical treatment of patients with PNI in
[4]
provided the original work is the United States . In comparison with the central nervous system (CNS), the peripheral
properly cited. nervous system (PNS) is more capable of spontaneous regeneration after injury due to
Publisher’s Note: Whioce the intrinsic growth capacity of neurons and the permissive microenvironment provided
Publishing remains neutral with by Schwann cells (SCs), which are activated during an injury . Regenerating peripheral
[5]
regard to jurisdictional claims in nerves after injury is possible but is complicated and takes a long time. There has been
published maps and institutional
affiliations. considerable progress in the development of artificial nerve implants for the clinical

Volume 9 Issue 5 (2023) 418 https://doi.org/10.18063/ijb.770