Laminin-incorporated nerve conduits made by plasma treatment for repairing spinal cord injury

To better direct the repair of damaged axons following spinal cord injury (SCI), we designed a nerve conduit (NC) modeled after the intact spinal cord, which would enable the axons to cross the lesioned area to rejoin on the other side. The NC consisted of a porous chitosan scaffold and was incorporated with laminin (LN) on the inner surface through oxygen plasma treatment. According to the BBB, CBS, and treadmill analyses, we found that following the implantation of the laminin-coated NC (LN-NC) the rats showed a tendency towards behavior improvement and functional recovery. Histology and immunocytochemical analyses indicated that the NC groups were capable of leading the damaged axons through the lesioned area without triggering inflammation or apoptosis. Together with the significantly enhanced expression of local GAP-43 in the LN-NC groups, as evidenced by western blot analysis, axon re-growth mediated by LN-NC was found to compare better than that by NC group. These results suggest a new possible approach to repairing SCI and, in general, a model which will be useful for other multidisciplinary procedures for complex neurological situations. (c) 2007 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.