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Peer-reviewedCC BYNature communications

Multichannel, biomimetic scaffolds improve functional connectivity following traumatic long-gap peripheral nerve injury.

  • Jacob Koffler1,2
  • Eleni Sinopoulou3,4
  • Isac Lazarovits3
  • Deborah M W Alexander3,4
  • Alec Salcido3
  • Kendell Pawelec5
  • Reid Abrams6
  • Jeff Sakamoto7
  • Mark H Tuszynski3,4
7 affiliations
  1. 1Department of Neuroscience, University of California San Diego, La Jolla, CA, USA. [email protected].
  2. 2Veterans Affairs Medical Center, San Diego, CA, USA. [email protected].
  3. 3Department of Neuroscience, University of California San Diego, La Jolla, CA, USA.
  4. 4Veterans Affairs Medical Center, San Diego, CA, USA.
  5. 5Department of Radiology & Institute for Quantitative Health Science & Engineering, Michigan State University, East Lansing, MI, USA.
  6. 6Department of Orthopedics, University of California San Diego, La Jolla, CA, USA.
  7. 7Materials Department, University of California Santa Barbara, Santa Barbara, CA, USA.
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Abstract

The gold standard for repair of peripheral nerve injuries is a nerve autograft. Donor nerve harvest creates a second surgical site, invariable numbness and donor site chronic neuropathic pain in 20% of cases. We developed a poly-caprolactone (PCL) multichannel, biomimetic scaffold with surface features promoting cell and vascular attachment and rapid, linear axonal regeneration. The cross-sectional area available for axonal regeneration exceeds that of autografts. When compared to nerve autografts and FDA-approved nerve conduits in 1cm-long rat and 3cm-long rabbit sciatic gap injury, biomimetic scaffolds were equivalent or superior to nerve autografts on measures of axonal regeneration, re-connection between gastrocnemius muscle and spinal cord motor neurons, and evoked motor responses. Scaffolds were superior in all measures to open tube conduits. Biomimetic multichannel scaffolds have potential to replace the need for autografting for peripheral nerve gap repair and are now undergoing multicenter clinical trials.

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Cite

BibTeXRIS
BibTeX
@article{koffler2026multichannel,
  title = {{Multichannel, biomimetic scaffolds improve functional connectivity following traumatic long-gap peripheral nerve injury.}},
  author = {Jacob Koffler and Eleni Sinopoulou and Isac Lazarovits and Deborah M W Alexander and Alec Salcido and Kendell Pawelec and Reid Abrams and Jeff Sakamoto and Mark H Tuszynski},
  journal = {Nature communications},
  year = {2026},
  month = sep,
  doi = {10.1038/s41467-026-77537-6},
  url = {https://europepmc.org/article/MED/42907445},
  note = {CC BY},
}
RIS
TY  - JOUR
TI  - Multichannel, biomimetic scaffolds improve functional connectivity following traumatic long-gap peripheral nerve injury.
AU  - Jacob Koffler
AU  - Eleni Sinopoulou
AU  - Isac Lazarovits
AU  - Deborah M W Alexander
AU  - Alec Salcido
AU  - Kendell Pawelec
AU  - Reid Abrams
AU  - Jeff Sakamoto
AU  - Mark H Tuszynski
PY  - 2026
DA  - 2026/09/21
JO  - Nature communications
DO  - 10.1038/s41467-026-77537-6
UR  - https://europepmc.org/article/MED/42907445
AB  - The gold standard for repair of peripheral nerve injuries is a nerve autograft. Donor nerve harvest creates a second surgical site, invariable numbness and donor site chronic neuropathic pain in 20% of cases. We developed a poly-caprolactone (PCL) multichannel, biomimetic scaffold with surface features promoting cell and vascular attachment and rapid, linear axonal regeneration. The cross-sectional area available for axonal regeneration exceeds that of autografts. When compared to nerve autografts and FDA-approved nerve conduits in 1cm-long rat and 3cm-long rabbit sciatic gap injury, biomimetic scaffolds were equivalent or superior to nerve autografts on measures of axonal regeneration, re-connection between gastrocnemius muscle and spinal cord motor neurons, and evoked motor responses. Scaffolds were superior in all measures to open tube conduits. Biomimetic multichannel scaffolds have potential to replace the need for autografting for peripheral nerve gap repair and are now undergoing multicenter clinical trials.
SN  - 2041-1723
ER  -