Engineering conductive antioxidative antibacterial nanocomposite hydrogel scaffolds with oriented channels promotes structure-functional skeletal muscle regeneration

It remains a challenge for the structure-function regeneration of volumetric skeletal muscle loss, in addition to the conservative treatment. Herein, we report an injectable conductive antioxidant antibacterial nanocomposite hydrogel scaffolds for the structural and functional regeneration of full-thickness skeletal muscle tissues. The nanocomposites hydrogel scaffolds (FPAu) were fabricated through the double crosslinking of F127-CHO network using ultrasmall gold@polymine nanoparticles and polydopamine nanoparticles. FPAu hydrogel scaffolds showed the good antioxidant activity, antibacterial ability, electroconductive activity and well-ordered porous structure, which significantly upregulated the myogenic genes and myosin heavy chain (MHC) protein expression of C2C12 myoblasts, as well as the myotube formation in vitro. Importantly, by a rat tibialis anterior muscle defect model, FPAu scaffolds facilitated the skeletal muscle tissue formation, restored the mechanical and electrophysiological functions of skeletal muscle tissues. This work suggests that engineering the injectable conductive antioxidant scaffolds with good porous structure is a promising strategy for in situ muscle tissue engineering.

Automated summary

A new injectable nanocomposite hydrogel scaffolds have been developed for the regeneration of full-thickness skeletal muscle tissues, showing promising antioxidant, antibacterial, and electroconductive properties. In vitro and in vivo experiments demonstrated that the scaffolds could promote myogenic gene expression, myotube formation, and restoration of mechanical and electrophysiological functions of skeletal muscle tissues. This study suggests that designing injectable conductive antioxidant scaffolds with good porous structure is a potential strategy for muscle tissue engineering in situ.