title: Peripheral nerve regeneration by transplantation of BMSC-derived Schwann cells as chitosan gel sponge scaffolds.
abstract: It is said that bone marrow stromal cells (BMSCs) are able to differentiate into different kinds of cells, including Schwann cells, under relevant conditions (Dezawa et al., Eur J Neurosci 2001;14:1771-1776). In the previous paper, we demonstrated that chitosan gel sponge is one of the effective scaffolds for regenerating axons of the rat sciatic nerve (Ishikawa et al., J Biomed Mater Res A 2007;83:33-40). In the present study, we examined whether BMSC-derived Schwann cells with chitosan gel sponges were one of the effective scaffolds for peripheral nerve regeneration in rats. BMSC-derived cells with Schwann cell characteristics were labeled by green fluorescent protein using a retrovirus. An 8-mm gap was made by removing a nerve segment from the rat peripheral nerve, and chitosan gel sponges containing BMSC-derived Schwann cells were grafted, sandwiching the proximal and distal stumps of the transected nerve. Rats were sacrificed at 7, 14, and 28 days, and 2 and 4 months after transplantation. Immunohistochemistry demonstrated that regenerating axons were found near transplanted Schwann cells 7 days after surgery and extended into the host distal nerve segment at 14 days after surgery. Electron microscopy showed that transplanted Schwann cells formed myelin sheaths on regenerating axons 1 month after transplantation. The mean diameter of myelinated fibers was increased from 2.58 mum at 2 months to 2.84 mum at 4 months postsurgery. This study indicates that chitosan gel sponges containing BMSC-derived Schwann cells have strong potentiality as a graft that can be used for peripheral nerve regeneration.
authors.affiliation: Department of Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery, Johoku Hospital, Kyoto, Japan. namikonz@gmail.com
authors.forename: Namiko
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Ishikawa
authors.forename: Yoshihisa
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Suzuki
authors.forename: Mari
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Dezawa
authors.forename: Kazuya
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Kataoka
authors.forename: Masayoshi
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Ohta
authors.forename: Hirotomi
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Cho
authors.forename: Chizuka
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Ide