Three-dimensional gelatin and gelatin/hyaluronan hydrogel structures for traumatic brain injury

Brain tissue engineering has now emerged as one of the most promising treatments for the traumatic brain injury. In this article, two groups of three-dimensional (3D) hydrogel structures composed of gelatin and gelatin/hyaluronan have been formed using our 3D cell assembly technique for in vivo study in rats, in order to investigate their effects in reparation of injury in the central nervous system (CNS). The structures were implanted into cortical defects created in rat brains, and their abilities to improve the brain tissue reconstruction were then evaluated. After 4, 8, 10, and 13 weeks of implantation, sections of brains were processed with NISSL staining for observing the immigration of host neural cells into the implanted materials and the degradation property of the materials. The results showed that simplex gelatin and gelatin/hyaluronan (20:1) with 3D structures both have good biocompatibility with brain tissue while gelatin/hyaluronan has a better contiguity with the surrounding tissue. Through our primary study, it seems that 3D gelatin/hyaluronan structures may be useful in brain tissue repair.