A Review of Bioactive Release from Nerve Conduits as a Neurotherapeutic Strategy for Neuronal Growth in Peripheral Nerve Injury

Figure 4

Schematic representation of surgical implantation of nerve guidance conduit containing the affinity-based delivery system. A 13 mm nerve gap was repaired with a 15 mm silicone conduit containing fibrin matrices with or without delivery system and growth factor and sutured to the transected proximal and distal stumps, incorporating 1 mm of nerve on either end. The delivery system consisted of a bidomain peptide crosslinked into the fibrin matrix at one domain while the other binds heparin by electrostatic interactions. The growth factor can then bind to the bound heparin, creating a matrix-bound, nondiffusible complex, which can be retained for cell mediated degradation of the fibrin matrix [77] (reproduced with permission from Elsevier B.V. Ltd., 2009).