Harnessing the Potential of Self-Assembled Peptide Hydrogels for Neural Regeneration and Tissue Engineering.

Spinal cord injury, traumatic brain injury, and neurosurgery procedures usually lead to neural tissue damage. Self-assembled peptide (SAP) hydrogels, a type of innovative hierarchical nanofiber-forming peptide sequences serving as hydrogelators, have emerged as a promising solution for repairing tissue defects and promoting neural tissue regeneration. SAPs possess numerous features such as adaptable morphologies, biocompatibility, injectability, tunable mechanical stability, and mimicking of the native extracellular matrix. This review explores the capacity of neural cells regeneration and examines the critical aspects of SAPs in neuroregeneration, including their biochemical composition, topology, mechanical behavior, conductivity, and degradability. Additionally, we delve into the latest strategies involving SAPs for central or peripheral neural tissue engineering. Finally, we discuss the future prospects of SAP hydrogel design and development in the realm of neuroregeneration. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved.