Conducting molybdenum sulfide/graphene oxide/polyvinyl alcohol nanocomposite hydrogel for repairing spinal cord injury

Abstract A sort of composite hydrogel with good biocompatibility, suppleness, high conductivity, and anti-inflammatory activity based on polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) and molybdenum sulfide/graphene oxide (MoS2/GO) nanomaterial has been developed for spinal cord injury (SCI) restoration. The developed (MoS2/GO/PVA) hydrogel exhibits excellent mechanical properties, outstanding electronic conductivity, and inflammation attenuation activity. It can promote neural stem cells into neurons differentiation as well as inhibit the astrocytes development in vitro. In addition, the composite hydrogel shows a high anti-inflammatory effect. After implantation of the composite hydrogel in mice, it could activate the endogenous regeneration of the spinal cord and inhibit the activation of glial cells in the injured area, thus resulting in the recovery of locomotor function. Overall, our work provides a new sort of hydrogels for SCI reparation, which shows great promise for improving the dilemma in SCI therapy. Graphical Abstract