Breaking the Spinal Cord Repair Bottleneck: Novel Bio-3D Printing Technology Enables Functional Neural Regeneration
Release time:
2026-01-26
On January 13, 2026, a joint research team from the Institute of Zoology and the Shenyang Institute of Automation, both under the Chinese Academy of Sciences, published groundbreaking findings in the prestigious international journal Cell Stem Cell. They announced the successful development of a novel bio-3D printing technology named "NEAT" (Nanoengineered Extrusion-Aligned Tract), which can construct biomimetic spinal cord tissue structures and effectively promote the recovery of neural functions in animal experiments. This achievement provides an innovative solution to the critical challenges in spinal cord injury repair, marking a major breakthrough in the fields of neural regenerative medicine and biofabrication.
Spinal cord injuries often lead to irreversible motor and sensory dysfunction, with the core challenge lying in how to reconstruct the highly ordered neural networks at the damaged site and restore their complex mechanical microenvironment. In natural spinal cord tissue, axons are precisely aligned along specific directions and exhibit soft, moisture-rich properties. However, most existing biomaterials struggle to simultaneously meet the requirements of structural biomimicry and functional support, particularly in maintaining three-dimensional ordered cell growth and differentiation.
Addressing this challenge, the research team proposed a novel "shear stress-driven" biofabrication strategy—NEAT. This technology innovatively integrates the self-assembly process of natural matrices like collagen with 3D printing techniques, enabling the integrated orientation construction from nanoscale fibers to centimeter-scale structures without relying on additional post-processing. During the printing process, precisely controlled shear stress fields guide the directional alignment and ordered assembly of chemically modified protocollagen fibers while preserving collagen's triple-helix structure and bioactivity. This ensures the material is both soft and capable of stable structural guidance.
Experiments demonstrate that the NEAT-printed biomimetic spinal cord scaffolds not only support the three-dimensional growth and ordered differentiation of human neural stem cells for over eight weeks in vitro but also induce the formation of mature neural networks with electrophysiological functionality. In a rat model of complete spinal cord transection injury, the scaffolds effectively promoted axonal regeneration and extension, synaptic reconnection, and repair of motor pathways, significantly improving the animals' hindlimb motor function and demonstrating excellent biocompatibility and functional integration.
The research team emphasized that the standout feature of NEAT lies in its ability to bridge functional integration across scales—from nanoscale construction to macroscopic tissue organization—unifying material topology control, cellular behavior regulation, and neural circuit reconstruction. This establishes a programmable and scalable new platform for neural tissue engineering. They highlighted that this technology integrates interdisciplinary expertise from biomaterial design, stem cell biology, neuroscience, and advanced manufacturing, offering potential not only to advance in vitro neural disease models and drug screening systems but also to provide practical solutions for future clinical treatments of central nervous system disorders such as spinal cord injuries.
Once considered an irreversible "forbidden zone," the spinal cord is now gradually overcoming this cognitive barrier with the advent of NEAT technology. Harnessing the power of science and technology, more patients who have lost mobility due to neural injuries may one day see the dawn of regaining their ability to stand and live independently.
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