title: Use of tissue-engineered nerve grafts consisting of a chitosan/poly(lactic-co-glycolic acid)-based scaffold included with bone marrow mesenchymal cells for bridging 50-mm dog sciatic nerve gaps.
abstract: Bone marrow mesenchymal cells (MSCs) have attracted increasing research interest due to their possible use as support cells for nerve tissue-engineering approaches. We developed a novel design of tissue-engineered nerve grafts consisting of a chitosan/poly(lactic-co-glycolic acid) (PLGA)-based neural scaffold included with autologous MSCs. The graft was used as an alternative to nerve autografts for bridging 50-mm-long gaps in dog sciatic nerve, and the repair outcome at 6 months after nerve grafting was evaluated by a combination of electrophysiological assessment, FluoroGold retrograde tracing, and histological investigation to regenerated nerve tissue and reinnervated target muscle. The experimental results indicated that introduction of autologous MSCs to the chitosan/PLGA-based neural scaffold promoted sciatic nerve regeneration and functional recovery, demonstrating significant efficacy that was, to a certain degree, close to that by nerve autografting, a gold standard for treating large peripheral nerve gaps, and better than that by grafting with the chitosan/PLGA-based scaffold alone.
authors.affiliation: Jiangsu Key Laboratory of Neuroregeneration, Nantong University, Nantong, P. R. China.
authors.forename: Fei
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Ding
authors.forename: Jian
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Wu
authors.forename: Yumin
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Yang
authors.forename: Wen
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Hu
authors.forename: Qi
authors.initials: Q
authors.lastname: Zhu
authors.forename: Xin
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Tang
authors.forename: Jie
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Liu
authors.forename: Xiaosong
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Gu
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001854:Bone Marrow Cells / Q000166:cytology* / Q000378:metabolism; D048271:Chitosan / Q000737:chemistry*; D004285:Dogs; D007150:Immunohistochemistry; D019344:Lactic Acid / Q000737:chemistry*; D059630:Mesenchymal Stem Cells / Q000166:cytology* / Q000378:metabolism; D008853:Microscopy; D046529:Microscopy, Electron, Transmission; D011100:Polyglycolic Acid / Q000737:chemistry*; D000077182:Polylactic Acid-Polyglycolic Acid Copolymer; D023822:Tissue Engineering / Q000379:methods*; D054457:Tissue Scaffolds / Q000737:chemistry*
chemical_list: D000077182:Polylactic Acid-Polyglycolic Acid Copolymer; D011100:Polyglycolic Acid; D019344:Lactic Acid; D048271:Chitosan