Abstract
Purpose :
The optic nerve cannot regenerate when injured in adult mammals, and so far, no facilely translatable methods are available for recovering the function of a severely injured optic nerve, which is mainly due to the formation of a neuroinhibitory microenvironment at injury sites. To address this issue, a structure-bionic porous scaffold for delivering anti-inflammatory molecules and effective modulating the neuroinhibitory microenvironment so as to promote axonal regeneration, is generated and investigated in vitro and in vivo.
Methods :
A structure-bionic porous scaffold loaded with polydopamine nanoparticles was fabricated using gradient condensation combining freeze-drying technique. The structures of porous scaffold were investigated by field-emission scanning electron microscopy as well as its biofunction at cell level, including cytotoxicity, intracellular reactive oxygen species (ROS) scavenging, in vitro anti-inflammation assay. Moreover, in vivo scaffold transplantation assay was proceeded with rat optic nerve transection model. Survival of RGCs and nascent axons were quantificated and in vivo immunostaining assay was carried out.
Results :
The scaffold was porous with abundant of axially distributed microchannels, similar to the structure of decellularized optic nerve. The structure-bionic scaffold was non-cytotoxic, with good biocompatibility and showed effective anti-inflammatory and antioxidative behavior in vitro. After in vivo scaffold transplantation on the rat optic nerve transection model, the scaffold effectively reduced the level of inflammation and oxidative stress in the inhibitory microenvironment and resulting in the promotion of axonal regeneration and RGCs.
Conclusions :
The local administration of the structure-bionic scaffold at the injured optic nerve is adapted for the anatomical structure of optic nerve and does not affect the physiological function of the eyeball, which provides a new strategy for optic nerve axon regeneration and RGCs protection after optic nerve injury.
This abstract was presented at the 2024 ARVO Annual Meeting, held in Seattle, WA, May 5-9, 2024.