1. ¹Department of Neurology, Graduate School of Medicine, Dentistry and Pharmacy, Faculty of Engineering, Okayama University, Okayama, Japan
2. ²Department of Cell Biology, Graduate School of Medicine, Dentistry and Pharmacy, Faculty of Engineering, Okayama University, Okayama, Japan
3. ³Biomaterial Laboratory, Faculty of Engineering, Okayama University, Okayama, Japan

Correspondence: Professor K Abe, Department of Neurology, Graduate School of Medicine, Dentistry and Pharmacy, Okayama University, 2-5-1 Shikata-cho, Okayama 700-8558, Japan. E-mail: degu@cc.okayama-u.ac.jp

Received 28 September 2005; Revised 1 December 2005; Accepted 7 December 2005; Published online 11 January 2006.

Abstract

For brain tissue regeneration, any scaffold for migrated or transplanted stem cells with supportive angiogenesis is important once necrotic brain tissue has formed a cavity after injury such as cerebral ischemia. In this study, a new porous gelatin–siloxane hybrid derived from the integration of gelatin and 3-(glycidoxypropyl) trimethoxysilane was implanted as a three-dimensional scaffold into a defect of the cerebral cortex. The porous hybrid implanted into the lesion remained at the same site for 60 days, kept integrity of the brain shape, and attached well to the surrounding brain tissues. Marginal cavities of the scaffolds were occupied by newly formed tissue in the brain, where newly produced vascular endothelial, astroglial, and microglial cells were found with bromodeoxyuridine double positivity, and the numbers of those cells were dose-dependently increased with the addition of basic fibroblast growth factor (bFGF) and epidermal growth factor (EGF). Extension of dendrites was also found from the surrounding cerebral cortex to the newly formed tissue, especially with the addition of bFGF and EGF. The present study showed that a new porous gelatin–siloxane hybrid had biocompatibility after implantation into a lesion of the central nervous system, and thus provided a potential scaffold for cell migration, angiogenesis and dendrite elongation with dose-dependent effects of additive bFGF and EGF.