Plant Scaffolds Support Motor Recovery and Regeneration in Rat Spinal Cord Injury

As of yet, no standard of care incorporates the use of a biomaterial to treat traumatic spinal cord injury (SCI)1-5. However, intense development of biomaterials for treating SCI have focused on the fabrication of microscale channels to support the regrowth of axons while minimizing scar tissue formation6-10. We previously demonstrated that plant tissues can be decellularized and processed to form sterile, biocompatible and implantable biomaterials that support cell infiltration and vascularization in vivo11-13 Notably, the vascular bundles of plant tissues are also composed of microscale channels with geometries thought to be relevant for supporting neural tissue regeneration14,15. We hypothesized that decellularized vascular bundles would support neural regeneration and the recovery of motor function. Therefore, rats which received a completeT8-T9 spinal cord transection were implanted with plant-derived channeled scaffolds. Animals which received the scaffolds alone, with no therapeutic stem cells or other interventions, demonstrated a significant and stable improvement in motor function over six months compared to controls. Histological analysis reveals minimal scarring and axonal regrowth through the scaffolds, further confirmed with tracer studies. Taken together, our work defines a novel route for exploiting naturally occurring plant microarchitectures to support the repair of functional spinal cord tissue.