Microtubes with gradient decellularized porcine sciatic nerve matrix from microfluidics for sciatic nerve regeneration

Long-range peripheral nerve defect is a severe and worldwide disease.With the increasing development of tissue engineering,the excellent ability of nerve extracellular matrix(ECM)in peripheral nerve injury(PNI)has been widely studied and verified.Here,we present a novel microtube that contains gradient decellularized porcine sciatic nerve ECM hydrogel(pDScNM-gel)from microfluidics for sciatic nerve regeneration.The pDScNM is confirmed to enhance cell proliferation and migration,and improve the axon growth of primary dorsal root ganglions(DRGs)in a concentration-related manner.These behaviors were also achieved when cells were co-cultured in a gradient pDScNM microtube.The in vivo sciatic nerve regeneration and functional recovery were also demonstrated by assembling the gradient pDScNM microtubes with a medical silicon tube.These results indicated that the microtubes with gradient pDScNM could act as a promising alternative for repairing peripheral nerve defects and showed great potential in clinical use.