Bio-nanotechnology Approaches to Neural Tissue Engineering

Injury to the peripheral nervous system (PNS) and central nervous system (CNS) may result in severe functional loss. Spontaneous regeneration is limited to small lesions within the injured PNS and is actively suppressed within the CNS. In this chapter we discuss the pathology and changes in the physiological environment following PNS/CNS injury. Several key factors such as the glial scar and inhibitory biomolecules are addressed. Neural tissue engineering approaches attempt to provide an alternative to nerve autografts, and have shown some promising regenerative outcomes. The scaffolds are designed to provide mechanical support for endogenous/transplanted cells at the lesion site, provide guidance cues to neurites and for the attachment or delivery of biomolecules that promote regeneration. Unfortunately many of the current scaffolds used for neural tissue engineering provide only limited regulation of cellular response due to insufficient control of physical support, topological stimulation, degradability and inflammatory/foreign body responses.