Label-free multiphoton microscopy reveals relevant tissue changes induced by alginate hydrogel implantation in rat spinal cord injury.

ABSTRACT: The development of therapies promoting recovery after spinal cord injury is a challenge. Alginate hydrogels offer the possibility to develop biocompatible implants with mechanical properties tailored to the nervous tissue, which could provide a permissive environment for tissue repair. Here, the effects of non-functionalized soft calcium alginate hydrogel were investigated in a rat model of thoracic spinal cord hemisection and compared to lesioned untreated controls. Open field locomotion tests were employed to evaluate functional recovery. Tissue analysis was performed with label-free multiphoton microscopy using a multimodal approach that combines coherent anti-Stokes Raman scattering to visualize axonal structures, two-photon fluorescence to visualize inflammation, second harmonic gener

SUBMITTER: Galli R 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6052076 | biostudies-literature | 2018 Jul

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature