Transplantable living scaffolds comprised of micro-tissue engineered aligned astrocyte networks to facilitate central nervous system regeneration.

ABSTRACT:

Unlabelled

Neurotrauma, stroke, and neurodegenerative disease may result in widespread loss of neural cells as well as the complex interconnectivity necessary for proper central nervous system function, generally resulting in permanent functional deficits. Potential regenerative strategies involve the recruitment of endogenous neural stem cells and/or directed axonal regeneration through the use of tissue engineered "living scaffolds" built to mimic features of three-dimensional (3-D) in vivo migratory or guidance pathways. Accordingly, we devised a novel biomaterial encasement scheme using tubular hydrogel-collagen micro-columns that facilitated the self-assembly of seeded astrocytes into 3-D living scaffolds consisting of long, cable-like aligned astrocytic networks. Here, robust

SUBMITTER: Winter CC 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5457669 | biostudies-literature | 2016 Jul

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature