A synthetic oxygen carrier-olfactory ensheathing cell composition system for the promotion of sciatic nerve regeneration.
The treatment of lengthy peripheral nerve defects is challenging in the field of the regenerative medicine. Thus far, many nerve scaffolds with seeded cells have been developed, which hold great potential to replace nerve autograft in bridging lengthy nerve defects by providing guiding and bioactive cues. However, low oxygen status has been found within nerve scaffolds after their implantation in vivo, which has been shown to result in death or loss of function of supportive cells, and significantly limit nerve regeneration and functional recovery after nerve injury. In the present study, perfluorotributylamine (PFTBA) was introduced into a collagen-chitosan conduit within which olfactory ensheathing cells (OECs) were seeded to increase oxygen supply to OECs, as well as regenerating axons. The "PFTBA-OECs" enriched scaffolds were then used to bridge a 15-mm-long sciatic nerve defect in rats. Both nerve regeneration and functional recovery were examined at pre-defined time points after surgery. We found that the number of GFP-labeled OECs was significantly higher in the "PFTBA-OECs" scaffold than that in the single OECs scaffold. In addition, PFTBA was found to enhance the beneficial effect of OECs-enriched scaffold on axonal regeneration and functional recovery. All these findings indicate that the "PFTBA-OECs" enriched scaffolds are capable of promoting nerve regeneration and functional recovery, which might be attributable, at least in part, to their beneficial effect on the survival of OECs after their implantation in vivo.
Institute of Orthopaedics, Xijing Hospital, The Fourth Military Medical University, Xi'an, Shaanxi 710032, China.
Shu
S
Zhu
Institute of Orthopaedics, Xijing Hospital, The Fourth Military Medical University, Xi'an, Shaanxi 710032, China.
Jun
J
Ge
Institute of Orthopaedics, Bethune International Peace Hospital, Shijiazhuang, Hebei 050082, China.
Yuqing
Y
Wang
Department of Orthopaedics, Wuhan General Hospital of Guangzhou Command of Chinese PLA, Wuhan, Hubei 430070, China.
Fengyu
F
Qi
Institute of Orthopaedics, Xijing Hospital, The Fourth Military Medical University, Xi'an, Shaanxi 710032, China.
Teng
T
Ma
General Political Department Hospital of PLA, Beijing 100120, China.
Meng
M
Wang
Institute of Orthopaedics, Xijing Hospital, The Fourth Military Medical University, Xi'an, Shaanxi 710032, China.
Yafeng
Y
Yang
Institute of Orthopaedics, Xijing Hospital, The Fourth Military Medical University, Xi'an, Shaanxi 710032, China.
Zhongyang
Z
Liu
Institute of Orthopaedics, Xijing Hospital, The Fourth Military Medical University, Xi'an, Shaanxi 710032, China. Electronic address: huangjh@fmmu.edu.cn.
Jinghui
J
Huang
Institute of Orthopaedics, Xijing Hospital, The Fourth Military Medical University, Xi'an, Shaanxi 710032, China. Electronic address: zjluo@fmmu.edu.cn.
Zhuojing
Z
Luo
D000818:Animals; D001522:Behavior, Animal; D008297:Male; D009416:Nerve Regeneration; D009830:Olfactory Bulb / Q000166:cytology*; D010100:Oxygen / Q000737:chemistry*; D051381:Rats; D017207:Rats, Sprague-Dawley; D044968:Regenerative Medicine; D012584:Sciatic Nerve / Q000502:physiology*; D054457:Tissue Scaffolds
D010100:Oxygen
Fluorocarbon; Functional recovery; Nerve regeneration; Olfactory ensheathing cell; Oxygenation; Peripheral nerve