title: Neural tissue engineering: a self-organizing collagen guidance conduit.
abstract: We report a novel implantable device that will deliver a tethered aligned collagen guidance conduit containing Schwann cells into a peripheral nerve injury site. Cells (Schwann cells and fibroblasts) incorporated into tethered rectangular collagen gels contracted and resulted in uniaxial alignment. This tissue-engineered construct was tested in three-dimensional culture and demonstrated the ability to guide neurite extension from dissociated dorsal root ganglia. A silicone tube was adapted to provide tethering sites for an implantable construct such that uniaxial cell-generated tension resulted in the formation of a bridge of aligned collagen fibrils, with a resident Schwann cell population. The potential of this device for surgical nerve regeneration was assessed in a 5-mm defect in a rat sciatic nerve model. Neural regeneration through this device was significantly greater than in controls, demonstrating that this system has potential both as a simple robust clinical implant and as a three-dimensional engineered tissue model.
authors.affiliation: University College London, Tissue Repair and Engineering Centre, Institute of Orthopaedics and Musculoskeletal Science, Royal National Orthopaedic Hospital, Stanmore, Middlesex, UK. j.b.phillips@open.ac.uk
authors.forename: James B
authors.initials: JB
authors.lastname: Phillips
authors.forename: Stephen C J
authors.initials: SC
authors.lastname: Bunting
authors.forename: Susan M
authors.initials: SM
authors.lastname: Hall
authors.forename: Robert A
authors.initials: RA
authors.lastname: Brown
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001672:Biocompatible Materials / Q000737:chemistry*; D018929:Cell Culture Techniques; D002478:Cells, Cultured; D003094:Collagen / Q000502:physiology*; D005260:Female; D016650:Fluorescein-5-isothiocyanate; D019084:Fluorescent Antibody Technique, Indirect; D005456:Fluorescent Dyes; D005727:Ganglia, Spinal / Q000166:cytology / Q000502:physiology; D005782:Gels; D007150:Immunohistochemistry; D008297:Male; D008856:Microscopy, Fluorescence; D009416:Nerve Regeneration / Q000502:physiology*; D009417:Nerve Tissue / Q000166:cytology / Q000502:physiology / Q000637:transplantation; D016501:Neurites / Q000502:physiology; D010543:Peroneal Nerve / Q000166:cytology; D011897:Random Allocation; D051381:Rats; D011916:Rats, Inbred F344; D017207:Rats, Sprague-Dawley; D012235:Rhodamines; D009418:S100 Proteins / Q000378:metabolism; D012583:Schwann Cells / Q000166:cytology* / Q000502:physiology* / Q000637:transplantation; D012584:Sciatic Nerve / Q000166:cytology; D012828:Silicones / Q000737:chemistry; D013979:Tibial Nerve / Q000166:cytology; D013997:Time Factors; D023822:Tissue Engineering / Q000379:methods*; D014184:Transplantation, Homologous
chemical_list: D001672:Biocompatible Materials; D005456:Fluorescent Dyes; D005782:Gels; D012235:Rhodamines; D009418:S100 Proteins; D012828:Silicones; C009434:tetramethylrhodamine isothiocyanate; D003094:Collagen; D016650:Fluorescein-5-isothiocyanate