Abstract:

Neurological disorders are diseases of the central and peripheral nervous systems. These disorders include Alzheimer disease, epilepsy, brain tumor, and cerebrovascular diseases (stroke, migraine and other headache disorders, multiple sclerosis, Parkinson's disease, and neuroinfections. Using injectable hydrogels, and especially injectable, self-healing hydrogels, for local and controlled cell delivery to CNS is a fast and new expanding discipline of regenerative medicine. A multitude of molecular and NSC therapeutics can be combined with hydrogels to repair injured CNS. In this status review, we have highlighted the chitosan-based self-healing hydrogel with CNS repair efficacy which was supported by the zebrafish model. The chitosan-based self-healing hydrogel is nontoxic, biodegradable, and biocompatible. NSC spheroids within chitosan-based self-healing hydrogel are able to differentiate into neurons and glial cells as a potential cellular source for neural regeneration. The zebrafish neural injury model may be used to screen potential biomaterials for applications in CNS related diseases. With the recent advances, we expect new smart materials that can respond to changes in external stimuli such as shear, temperature, pH, and specific ligands will be developed in the near future to provide exciting possibilities to repair CNS related diseases in the next ten years.