Front cover of the journal.

Schematic diagram of collagen scaffold manufacturing and nerve regeneration repair achievements.

Collagen is one of the most important functional materials in the human body, providing structural support for cells and tissues, and participating in intercellular signaling and tissue repair. In the field of organ manufacturing, collagen can serve as a scaffold material, providing a framework for cell attachment and growth, and promoting the reconstruction and repair of tissues and organs, which has great application value. However, due to the obvious softness of collagen, it is very difficult to process it into high-precision structures, which greatly restricts the application of collagen materials in the field of organ manufacturing.

To address this issue, reesarchers from Shenyang Institute of Automation (SIA), the Chinese Academy of Science (CAS), in collaboration with the First Affiliated Hospital of the Air Force Military Medical University of the Chinese People's Liberation Army, established an innovative biofabrication platform for the precise construction of collagen-based nerve grafts with integrated structural and chemical guidance cues. It not only propels advancements in nerve regenerationbut also provides novel manufacturing techniques for other human tissue engineering applications requiring tailored guidance cues, demonstrating extensive applicability.

The research team proposed the viscoelastic model identification and interface assembly analysis method of collagen hydrogel to meet the requirements of bionic manufacturing of high-density microchannel guiding structure in natural nerve tissue. In order to meet the demand of gradient distribution of growth factors to guide the long-distance regeneration of nerve axons, a two-component high-precision formulation control model of collagen hydrogel was developed, and a quantitative manufacturing platform of collagen tissue engineering scaffold containing structural and chemical elements was established.

The research team constructed collagen nerve tissue containing dual guidance through the quantitative manufacturing platform. 12 weeks after the implantation of collagen nerve tissue into the nerve truncated rats, multiple indicators such as sciatic nerve function index (SFI) and compound muscle action potential (CMAP) have showed that the motor and sensory functions of the lower limbs of rats were significantly restored.

The research was published in Advanced Healthcare Materials, as the front cover of the journal, titled Quantitative biofabrication platform for collagen-based peripheral nerve grafts with structural and chemical guidance. The research is supported by the National Key R&D Program, the National Natural Science Foundation of China, the CAS Project for Young Scientists in Basic Research, etc.