title: Venous graft-derived cells participate in peripheral nerve regeneration.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Based on growing evidence that some adult multipotent cells necessary for tissue regeneration reside in the walls of blood vessels and the clinical success of vein wrapping for functional repair of nerve damage, we hypothesized that the repair of nerves via vein wrapping is mediated by cells migrating from the implanted venous grafts into the nerve bundle.
  
  
  RESULTS
  To test the hypothesis, severed femoral nerves of rats were grafted with venous grafts from animals of the opposite sex. Nerve regeneration was impaired when decellularized or irradiated venous grafts were used in comparison to untreated grafts, supporting the involvement of venous graft-derived cells in peripheral nerve repair. Donor cells bearing Y chromosomes integrated into the area of the host injured nerve and participated in remyelination and nerve regeneration. The regenerated nerve exhibited proper axonal myelination, and expressed neuronal and glial cell markers.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  These novel findings identify the mechanism by which vein wrapping promotes nerve regeneration.
authors.affiliation: Stem Cell Research Center, Children's Hospital of Pittsburgh of UPMC, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, United States of America. mil39@pitt.edu
authors.forename: Mitra
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Lavasani
authors.forename: Sebastian
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Gehrmann
authors.forename: Burhan
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Gharaibeh
authors.forename: Katherine A
authors.initials: KA
authors.lastname: Clark
authors.forename: Robert A
authors.initials: RA
authors.lastname: Kaufmann
authors.forename: Bruno
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Péault
authors.forename: Robert J
authors.initials: RJ
authors.lastname: Goitz
authors.forename: Johnny
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Huard
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001369:Axons / Q000378:metabolism / Q000648:ultrastructure; D002465:Cell Movement; D049109:Cell Proliferation; D002478:Cells, Cultured; D005260:Female; D005267:Femoral Nerve / Q000293:injuries / Q000503:physiopathology* / Q000601:surgery*; D005268:Femoral Vein / Q000166:cytology / Q000528:radiation effects / Q000637:transplantation*; D007150:Immunohistochemistry; D017404:In Situ Hybridization, Fluorescence; D008297:Male; D046529:Microscopy, Electron, Transmission; D009413:Nerve Fibers, Myelinated / Q000378:metabolism / Q000648:ultrastructure; D009416:Nerve Regeneration; D016900:Neurofilament Proteins / Q000378:metabolism; D051381:Rats; D011916:Rats, Inbred F344; D012583:Schwann Cells / Q000378:metabolism / Q000648:ultrastructure; D012737:Sex Factors; D014184:Transplantation, Homologous
chemical_list: D016900:Neurofilament Proteins