Electrospun Silk Fibroin Nanofiber Tubes for Peripheral Nerve Regeneration

Silk fibroin (SF) has been extensively studied for application in wound dressing, bone, vessel and nerve regeneration. We have previously reported on good in vitro biocompatibility of SF nanofibers with neuronal cell. In the present study, we prepared SF nanofiber-based artificial nerve conduit to bridge 10mm long sciatic nerve defect of rats. We evaluated the peripheral nerve regeneration outcome by a combination of electrophysiological assessment, the percentage of wet weight loss of tibialis anterior muscle and histological investigation. These results showed that SF nanofibrous conduit could promote peripheral nerve regeneration and would be a promising alternative to nerve autografts, especially TSF nanofibrous conduit.