Abstract
After injury to the peripheral nervous system, axons from regenerating nerve cells must reach their innervation target to restore function. Polymeric substrates are currently being evaluated as nerve guides to enhance recovery after peripheral nerve injury. Degradable organic polymer substrates are highly suitable materials as matrices for tissue engineering because they can be specifically designed to serve as scaffolds then be absorbed by the body leaving only native tissue. Protein patterns on polymeric nerve guides may help maximize functional repair after injury because chemical cues can direct cellular components to their intended targets. Using microcontact printing techniques, protein stripes were patterned onto several different degradable polymeric substrates including poly(caprolactone), poly(caprolactam) and poly(3-hydroxybutyrate). The fluorescently tagged protein micro-patterns were visualized by confocal scanning laser fluorescence microscopy. The micropatterned polymer substrates were evaluated for their ability to direct attachment and alignment of Schwann cells (a cellular component of the peripheral nervous system).
| Original language | English (US) |
|---|---|
| Pages (from-to) | 691-692 |
| Number of pages | 2 |
| Journal | Annual International Conference of the IEEE Engineering in Medicine and Biology - Proceedings |
| Volume | 1 |
| State | Published - 2002 |
| Event | Proceedings of the 2002 IEEE Engineering in Medicine and Biology 24th Annual Conference and the 2002 Fall Meeting of the Biomedical Engineering Society (BMES / EMBS) - Houston, TX, United States Duration: Oct 23 2002 → Oct 26 2002 |
All Science Journal Classification (ASJC) codes
- Signal Processing
- Biomedical Engineering
- Computer Vision and Pattern Recognition
- Health Informatics
Keywords
- Microcontact printing
- Polymers
- Schwann cells