title: Repair of Rat Sciatic Nerve Defects by Using Allogeneic Bone Marrow Mononuclear Cells Combined With Chitosan/Silk Fibroin Scaffold.
abstract: The therapeutic benefits of bone marrow mononuclear cells (BM-MNCs) in many diseases have been well established. To advance BM-MNC-based cell therapy into the clinic for peripheral nerve repair, in this study we developed a new design of tissue-engineered nerve grafts (TENGs), which consist of a chitosan/fibroin-based nerve scaffold and BM-MNCs serving as support cells. These TENGs were used for interpositional nerve grafting to bridge a 10-mm-long sciatic nerve defect in rats. Histological and functional assessments after nerve grafting showed that regenerative outcomes achieved by our developed TENGs were better than those achieved by chitosan/silk fibroin scaffolds and were close to those achieved by autologous nerve grafts. In addition, we used green fluorescent protein-labeled BM-MNCs to track the cell location within the chitosan/fibroin-based nerve scaffold and trace the cell fate at an early stage of sciatic nerve regeneration. The result suggested that BM-MNCs could survive at least 2 weeks after nerve grafting, thus helping to gain a preliminary mechanistic insight into the favorable effects of BM-MNCs on axonal regrowth.
authors.affiliation: Jiangsu Key Laboratory of Neuroregeneration, Co-innovation Center of Neuroregeneration, Nantong University, Nantong, China.
authors.forename: Min
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Yao
authors.forename: Yi
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Zhou
authors.forename: Chengbin
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Xue
authors.forename: Hechun
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Ren
authors.forename: Shengran
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.forename: Hui
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Zhu
authors.forename: Xingjian
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Gu
authors.forename: Xiaosong
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Gu
authors.forename: Jianhui
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Gu
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001854:Bone Marrow Cells / Q000166:cytology*; D016026:Bone Marrow Transplantation / Q000379:methods*; D064987:Cell- and Tissue-Based Therapy / Q000379:methods*; D048271:Chitosan / Q000378:metabolism*; D005260:Female; D005349:Fibroins / Q000378:metabolism; D007963:Leukocytes, Mononuclear / Q000166:cytology / Q000637:transplantation*; D009416:Nerve Regeneration / Q000502:physiology*; D051381:Rats; D017207:Rats, Sprague-Dawley; D012584:Sciatic Nerve / Q000473:pathology / Q000601:surgery*; D023822:Tissue Engineering / Q000379:methods; D054457:Tissue Scaffolds; D014945:Wound Healing / Q000502:physiology
chemical_list: D005349:Fibroins; D048271:Chitosan