Engineering biomaterial microenvironments to promote myelination in the central nervous system

Promoting remyelination and/or minimizing demyelination are key therapeutic strategies under investigation for diseases and injuries like multiple sclerosis (MS), spinal cord injury, stroke, and virus-induced encephalopathy. Myelination is essential for efficacious neuronal signaling. This myelination process is originated by oligodendrocyte progenitor cells (OPCs) in the central nervous system (CNS). Resident OPCs are capable of both proliferation and differentiation, and also migration to demyelinated injury sites. OPCs can then engage with these unmyelinated or demyelinated axons and differentiate into myelin-forming oligodendrocytes (OLs). However this process is frequently incomplete and often does not occur at all. Biomaterial strategies can now be used to guide OPC and OL development with the goal of regenerating healthy myelin sheaths in formerly damaged CNS tissue. Growth and neurotrophic factors delivered from such materials can promote proliferation of OPCs or differentiation into OLs. While cell transplantation techniques have been used to replace damaged cells in wound sites, they have also resulted in poor transplant cell viability, uncontrollable differentiation, and poor integration into the host. Biomaterial scaffolds made from extracellular matrix (ECM) mimics that are naturally or synthetically derived can improve transplanted cell survival, support both transplanted and endogenous cell populations, and direct their fate. In particular, stiffness and degradability of these scaffolds are two parameters that can influence the fate of OPCs and OLs. The future outlook for biomaterials research includes 3D in vitro models of myelination / remyelination / demyelination to better mimic and study these processes. These models should provide simple relationships of myelination to microenvironmental biophysical and biochemical properties to inform improved therapeutic approaches.