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Review
. 2021 Sep 27;7(4):152.
doi: 10.3390/gels7040152.

Repair of Peripheral Nerve Injury Using Hydrogels Based on Self-Assembled Peptides

Meng Zhang  1   2   3 , Lei Li  4 , Heng An  5 , Peixun Zhang  1   2   3 , Peilai Liu  4
Affiliations
Review

Repair of Peripheral Nerve Injury Using Hydrogels Based on Self-Assembled Peptides

Meng Zhang et al. Gels. .

Abstract

Peripheral nerve injury often occurs in young adults and is characterized by complex regeneration mechanisms, poor prognosis, and slow recovery, which not only creates psychological obstacles for the patients but also causes a significant burden on society, making it a fundamental problem in clinical medicine. Various steps are needed to promote regeneration of the peripheral nerve. As a bioremediation material, self-assembled peptide (SAP) hydrogels have attracted international attention. They can not only be designed with different characteristics but also be applied in the repair of peripheral nerve injury by promoting cell proliferation or drug-loaded sustained release. SAP hydrogels are widely used in tissue engineering and have become the focus of research. They have extensive application prospects and are of great potential biological value. In this paper, the application of SAP hydrogel in peripheral nerve injury repair is reviewed, and the latest progress in peptide composites and fabrication techniques are discussed.

Keywords: design and production process; natural polymers; nerve regeneration; peripheral nerve injury; self-assembled peptides.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no conflict of interest.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Structures of the SAPs commonly used in nerve repair: (A) IKVAV (isoleucine–lysine–valine–alanine–valine); (B) RGD (arginine–glycine–aspartic acid); (C) YIGSR (tyrosine–isoleucine–glycine–serine–arginine); (D) RADA16 (arginine–alanine–aspartic acid–alanine).
Figure 2
Figure 2
(A) pH-controlled peptide self-assembly. (B) Light-controlled peptide self-assembly. (C) Temperature-controlled peptide self-assembly. (D) Enzyme-controlled peptide self-assembly.
Figure 3
Figure 3
(A) Self-assembled peptides promote cell proliferation, migration, and reprogramming. (B) Drug loading function of a self-assembled peptide hydrogel. (C) The slow-release process of a self-assembled peptide hydrogel. (D) The self-assembled peptide matrix is non-immunogenic. (E) Antibacterial properties of self-assembled peptide matrix.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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