title: Ex Vivo Assay of Electrical Stimulation to Rat Sciatic Nerves: Cell Behaviors and Growth Factor Expression.
abstract: Neurite outgrowth and axon regeneration are known to benefit from electrical stimulation. However, how neuritis and their surroundings react to electrical field is difficult to replicate by monolayer cell culture. In this work freshly harvested rat sciatic nerves were cultured and exposed to two types of electrical field, after which time the nerve tissues were immunohistologically stained and the expression of neurotrophic factors and cytokines were evaluated. ELISA assay was used to confirm the production of specific proteins. All cell populations survived the 48 h culture with little necrosis. Electrical stimulation was found to accelerate Wallerian degeneration and help Schwann cells to switch into migratory phenotype. Inductive electrical stimulation was shown to upregulate the secretion of multiple neurotrophic factors. Cellular distribution in nerve tissue was altered upon the application of an electrical field. This work thus presents an ex vivo model to study denervated axon in well controlled electrical field, bridging monolayer cell culture and animal experiment. It also demonstrated the critical role of electrical field distribution in regulating cellular activities.
authors.affiliation: Qiandongnan National Polytechnic, Kaili, China.|Département de chirurgie, Faculté de médecine, Centre de recherche du CHU de Québec, Université Laval, Québec (QC), Canada.
authors.forename: Zhiyong
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Du
authors.affiliation: Département de chirurgie, Faculté de médecine, Centre de recherche du CHU de Québec, Université Laval, Québec (QC), Canada.
authors.forename: Olexandr
authors.initials: O
authors.lastname: Bondarenko
authors.affiliation: Département de chirurgie, Faculté de médecine, Centre de recherche du CHU de Québec, Université Laval, Québec (QC), Canada.
authors.forename: Dingkun
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.affiliation: Groupe de recherche en écologie buccale, Faculté de médecine dentaire, Université Laval, Québec (QC), Canada.
authors.forename: Mahmoud
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Rouabhia
authors.affiliation: Département de chirurgie, Faculté de médecine, Centre de recherche du CHU de Québec, Université Laval, Québec (QC), Canada.
authors.forename: Ze
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Zhang
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001369:Axons / Q000378:metabolism; D002465:Cell Movement; D048430:Cell Shape; D002470:Cell Survival; D004553:Electric Conductivity; D004558:Electric Stimulation / Q000295:instrumentation / Q000379:methods*; D004867:Equipment Design; D005260:Female; D009414:Nerve Growth Factors / Q000378:metabolism*; D009474:Neurons / Q000378:metabolism*; D010641:Phenotype; D011093:Polyethylene Terephthalates / Q000737:chemistry; D017207:Rats, Sprague-Dawley; D012584:Sciatic Nerve / Q000166:cytology / Q000378:metabolism*; D013784:Textiles; D013997:Time Factors; D046509:Tissue Culture Techniques
chemical_list: D009414:Nerve Growth Factors; D011093:Polyethylene Terephthalates