A Silk Fibroin/Collagen Nerve Scaffold Seeded with a Co-Culture of Schwann Cells and Adipose-Derived Stem Cells for Sciatic Nerve Regeneration

As a promising alternative to autologous nerve grafts, tissue-engineered nerve grafts have been extensively studied as a way to bridge peripheral nerve defects and guide nerve regeneration. The main difference between autogenous nerve grafts and tissue-engineered nerve grafts is the regenerative microenvironment formed by the grafts. If an appropriate regenerative microenvironment is provided, the repair of a peripheral nerve is feasible. In this study, to mimic the body’s natural regenerative microenvironment closely, we co-cultured Schwann cells (SCs) and adipose-derived stem cells (ADSCs) as seed cells and introduced them into a silk fibroin (SF)/collagen scaffold to construct a tissue-engineered nerve conduit (TENC). Twelve weeks after the three different grafts (plain SF/collagen scaffold, TENC, and autograft) were transplanted to bridge 1-cm long sciatic nerve defects in rats, a series of electrophysiological examinations and morphological analyses were performed to evaluate the effect of the tissue-engineered nerve grafts on peripheral nerve regeneration. The regenerative outcomes showed that the effect of treatment with TENCs was similar to that with autologous nerve grafts but superior to that with plain SF/collagen scaffolds. Meanwhile, no experimental animals had inflammation around the grafts. Based on this evidence, our findings suggest that the TENC we developed could improve the regenerative microenvironment and accelerate nerve regeneration compared to plain SF/collagen and may serve as a promising strategy for peripheral nerve repair.