Nanofiber Scaffolds Enhance Nerve Cell Growth

Researchers have developed a method for growing nerve cells in tissue culture within a three-dimensional network of nanofibers formed by self-assembly of peptide amphiphile molecules.

Investigators at Northwestern University (Chicago, IL, USA) prepared solutions of specially designed amphiphilic peptides. They reported in the January 22, 2004, issue of Science that when nerve cell suspensions in media were mixed with these dilute aqueous solutions, self-assembly of nanofiber scaffolds was initiated, and the cells survived the growth of the nanofibers around them.

"We have created new materials that because of their chemical structure interact with cells of the central nervous system in ways that may help prevent the formation of the scar that is often linked to paralysis after spinal cord injury,” explained senior author Dr. Samuel I. Stupp, professor of materials science and engineering, chemistry, and medicine at Northwestern. "We have shown that our scaffold selectively and rapidly directs cell differentiation, driving neural progenitor cells to become neurons and not astrocytes. Astrocytes are a major problem in spinal cord injury because they lead to scarring and act as a barrier to neuron repair.”






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