FIGURE 2.

Soft hydrogel–loaded exosomes can better repair injured nerves. (A) Rat hind footprints were collected after surgery, and the SFI was used to evaluate the functional recovery of the injured sciatic nerve (left: typical footprint pattern, 7 days, bar = 1 cm; right: SFI score, 14 days). Con: surgery group, sham: sham operation group, con vs. sham p = 1.71649E-4; soft: soft hydrogel treatment group, soft vs. con p = 0.01813); and stiff: stiff hydrogel treatment group, soft vs. stiff p = 0.02697. (B) Wet weight of the gastrocnemius muscle and the cross-sectional area of the gastrocnemius muscle fibers. (left: photographs of rat gastrocnemius muscles on the operative and nonoperative sides and HE-stained images of the transverse section of the gastrocnemius muscle on the operating side, bar = 1 cm black, bar = 100 μm yellow).