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Matching mechanical heterogeneity of the native spinal cord augments axon infiltration in 3D-printed scaffolds
Journal article   Open access   Peer reviewed

Matching mechanical heterogeneity of the native spinal cord augments axon infiltration in 3D-printed scaffolds

Kiet A. Tran, Brandon J. DeOre, David Ikejiani, Kristen Means, Louis S. Paone, Laura De Marchi, Łukasz Suprewicz, Katarina Koziol, Julien Bouyer, Fitzroy J. Byfield, …
Biomaterials, v 295, 122061
16 Feb 2023
PMID: 36842339
url
http://manuscript.elsevier.com/S0142961223000698/pdf/S0142961223000698.pdfView
Accepted (AM)Open Access (Publisher-Specific) Open

Abstract

3D-printing Axon regeneration Digital light processing Rheology Spinal Cord Injury Tissue Engineering
Scaffolds delivered to injured spinal cords to stimulate axon connectivity often match the anisotropy of native tissue using guidance cues along the rostral-caudal axis, but current approaches do not mimic the heterogeneity of host tissue mechanics. Although white and gray matter have different mechanical properties, it remains unclear whether tissue mechanics also vary along the length of the cord. Mechanical testing performed in this study indicates that bulk spinal cord mechanics do differ along anatomical level and that these differences are caused by variations in the ratio of white and gray matter. These results suggest that scaffolds recreating the heterogeneity of spinal cord tissue mechanics must account for the disparity between gray and white matter. Digital light processing (DLP) provides a means to mimic spinal cord topology, but has previously been limited to printing homogeneous mechanical properties. We describe a means to modify DLP to print scaffolds that mimic spinal cord mechanical heterogeneity caused by variation in the ratio of white and gray matter, which improves axon infiltration compared to controls exhibiting homogeneous mechanical properties. These results demonstrate that scaffolds matching the mechanical heterogeneity of white and gray matter improve the effectiveness of biomaterials transplanted within the injured spinal cord.

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15 citations in Scopus

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Collaboration types
Domestic collaboration
International collaboration
Web of Science research areas
Engineering, Biomedical
Materials Science, Biomaterials
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