title: An in vivo model to quantify motor and sensory peripheral nerve regeneration using bioresorbable nerve guide tubes.
abstract: An in vivo preparation is presented to study the rate and time course of motor and sensory axonal regeneration. The cut ends of a transected sciatic nerve were inserted into each end of a 5-6 mm non-toxic and bioresorbable nerve guide tube to create a 4 mm nerve gap in adult mice. Subsequently, cell bodies in the ventral spinal cord and L3-L5 dorsal root ganglia that had regenerated axons across the gap were retrogradely labeled with horseradish peroxidase (HRP). The HRP was applied 3 mm distal to the nerve guide and was accessible only to axons that had regenerated through the nerve guide. Labeled cells were counted in 40 micron serial sections at 2, 4 and 6 weeks after initial nerve transection. The results indicate a significant increase in the number of labeled motor and sensory cell bodies over time. By 6 weeks after transection, approximately two thirds as many ventral horn motor cells and one third as many dorsal root ganglion sensory cells were labeled as in control non-transected animals. These data serve as a baseline to compare differential effects of additives to the nerve guide lumen in terms of sensory and motor neuron response.
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001672:Biocompatible Materials; D005260:Female; D008297:Male; D051379:Mice; D008810:Mice, Inbred C57BL; D009046:Motor Neurons / Q000502:physiology*; D009416:Nerve Regeneration; D009475:Neurons, Afferent / Q000502:physiology*; D012584:Sciatic Nerve / Q000601:surgery*
chemical_list: D001672:Biocompatible Materials