A 3D-Printed Dual Driving Forces Scaffold with Self-Promoted Cell Absorption for Spinal Cord Injury Repair

Stem cells play critical roles in cell therapies and tissue engineering for nerve repair. However, achieving effective delivery of high cell density remains a challenge. Here, a novel cell delivery platform termed the hyper expansion scaffold (HES) is developed to enable high cell loading. HES facilitated self-promoted and efficient cell absorption via a dual driving force model. In vitro tests revealed that the HES rapidly expanded 80-fold in size upon absorbing 2.6 million human amniotic epithelial stem cells (hAESCs) within 2 min, representing over a 400% increase in loading capacity versus controls. This enhanced uptake benefited from macroscopic swelling forces as well as microscale capillary action. In spinal cord injury (SCI) rats, HES-hAESCs promoted functional recovery and axonal projection by reducing neuroinflammation and improving the neurotrophic microenvironment surrounding the lesions. In summary, the dual driving forces model provides a new rationale for engineering hydrogel scaffolds to facilitate self-promoted cell absorption. The HES platform demonstrates great potential as a powerful and efficient vehicle for delivering high densities of hAESCs to promote clinical treatment and repair of SCI.