I-Corps: A conductive scaffold with a tunable mechanical and biochemical environment for spinal cord injury repair

I-Corps项目更广泛的影响和商业潜力是开发一种修复脊髓损伤的治疗技术。目前，还没有能够完全恢复脊髓损伤后功能的治疗方法。用于修复脊髓的生物工程支架目前正在人类患者的临床试验中进行评估。然而，在植入小动物模型的支架中，尚未实现足够的神经组织生长以促进功能恢复。提出的技术旨在解决当前支架设计的挑战，通过手术将3d打印（预制）支架运送到损伤部位，可以恢复脊髓损伤患者的功能。在美国，脊髓损伤是一个毁灭性的问题，每年影响成千上万的患者，每年的医疗费用接近100亿美元。所提出的支架技术可以促进与脊髓损伤相关的科学和技术理解，并改善脊髓损伤的预后。这个I-Corps项目的基础是开发一种导电生物链接，使制造修复脊髓损伤的支架成为可能。目前的支架在调节材料特性以增加宿主轴突的浸润和生长方面的能力有限。所提出的支架是使用数字光处理进行3d打印的，其特征是在喙端-尾端方向上定向的通道，内衬神经原性肽，提供对拓扑特征和细胞-基质相互作用的正交控制，以促进轴突的浸润和生长，以克服以前的限制。此外，生物链接材料具有导电特性，可以增强基于运动的康复的功效，从而潜在地恢复患者的功能。在脊髓损伤大鼠模型中进行的初步研究表明，这些支架可大量浸润宿主轴突。拟议的支架的总体目标是取代目前正在评估的再生策略。该奖项反映了美国国家科学基金会的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的知识价值和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

The broader impacts and commercial potential of this I-Corps project is the development of a therapeutic technology to repair spinal cord injury. Currently, there is no treatment capable of fully restoring function following spinal cord injury. Bioengineered scaffolds to repair the spinal cord are currently being evaluated in human patients in ongoing clinical trials. However, achieving sufficient neural tissue growth to facilitate functional recovery has yet to be achieved in scaffolds implanted in small animal models. The proposed technology is designed to address the challenges of current scaffold designs by using a 3D-printed (prefabricated) scaffold surgically delivered to the site of the injury that may restore function in patients of spinal cord injury. Spinal cord injury is a devastating problem that affects thousands of patients each year in the United States with annual healthcare costs of nearly $10 billion per year. The proposed scaffold technology may advance both scientific and technological understanding related to spinal cord injury as well as improve spinal injury outcomes. This I-Corps project is based on the development of a conductive bioink that enables the fabrication of scaffolds for repairing spinal cord injury. Current scaffolds are limited in their ability to tune material properties to increase infiltration and outgrowth of host axons. The proposed scaffold is 3D-printed using digital light processing and features channels oriented in the rostral-caudal direction lined with neurogenic peptides, providing orthogonal control over topological features and cell-matrix interactions to foster axon infiltration and outgrowth to overcome previous limitations. In addition, the bioink material exhibits conductive properties that may enhance the efficacy of exercise-based rehabilitation to potentially restore function in patients. Preliminary studies in a rat model of spinal cord injury demonstrate substantial infiltration of host axons from these scaffolds. The overall goal for the proposed scaffolds is to replace the regenerative strategies currently under evaluation.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.