Fig. 8.

Preparation and injection of silk fibroin/polydopamine (SF/PDA) composite hydrogel in a rat model with lateral hemisection spinal cord injury. a) Illustration of SF/PDA hydrogel fabrication. b) Hydrogel injection procedure. c) Surface topography of composite hydrogels as shown by SEM. d) SEM of hydrogels in cross-section. e) Inner pore size, pore density, and porosity distribution. f) In vitro cell culture employing immunofluorescence labeling of hippocampus neurons in different SF/DOPA hydrogels and cytotoxicity testing utilizing MTT assay. g) SEM images of hippocampal neurons morphology cultured in vitro, the axon length, and the cell density. h) Initial assessment of spinal cord regeneration two weeks after injection; Immunofluorescence staining of neurons (β-tubulin III, red), glial cells (GFAP), and cell nuclei (Hoechst33342, blue), immunofluorescence intensity of GFAP around the cavity, and statistical analysis of hippocampus neurons and glial cells [218]. Copyright 2022 Elsevier.