title: Neural stem/progenitor cells on collagen with anchored basic fibroblast growth factor as potential natural nerve conduits for facial nerve regeneration.
abstract: Introducing neural stem/progenitor cells (NS/PCs) for repairing facial nerve injuries could be an alternative strategy for nerve gap reconstruction. However, the lack of success associated with current methods of applying NS/PCs to neurological disease is due to poor engraftment following transplantation into the host tissue. In this work, we developed rat-tail collagen-based nerve conduits to repair lengthy facial nerve defects, promoting NS/PC proliferation in the natural nerve conduits with anchored bFGF to improve the therapeutic effects of cell transplantation. In vitro studies showed that heparinized collagen prevented leakage of bFGF and NS/PCs expended in the rat-tail collagen gel with the anchored bFGF. The natural nerve conduits were implanted to connect 8-mm facial nerve defects in rats. The repair outcomes including vibrissae movements, electrophysiological tests, immunohistochemistry and remyelination analysis of regenerated nerve were evaluated. At 12weeks after implantation, only natural nerve conduits treated group showed Hoechst labeled NS/PCs. Besides, the natural nerve conduit significantly promoted functional recovery and nerve growth, which was similar to those of the gold standard, an autograft. The animal experiment results suggesting that the natural nerve conduits were valuable for facial nerve reconstruction.
  
  
  
  Neural stem/progenitor cells (NS/PCs) were beneficial for the treatment of nervous system diseases. However, after transplantation, the beneficial was limited because the number of living NS/PCs decreased rapidly due to insufficient signaling molecules, such as growth factors, in the microenvironments surrounding transplanted cells. In the present study, we constructed collagen-based nerve conduit with anchored bFGF to achieve higher numbers of NS/PCs for repairing facial nerve injury. Compared with other methods involving neutral salt treatment or dialysis, the fabrication method of collagen scaffolds was simple, low-cost and safe, requiring a relatively short time to prepare. At 12weeks after transplantation, the functional and histological results of natural nerve conduits treated group showed significant similarities to the gold standard method of nerve autografting.
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurosurgery, Fudan University Huashan Hospital, National Key Laboratory of Medical Neurobiology, The Institutes of Brain Science and the Collaborative Innovation Center for Brain Science, Shanghai Medical College, Fudan University, No. 12 Urumqi Mid Road, Shanghai 200040, China.
authors.forename: Fukai
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Ma
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurosurgery, Fudan University Huashan Hospital, National Key Laboratory of Medical Neurobiology, The Institutes of Brain Science and the Collaborative Innovation Center for Brain Science, Shanghai Medical College, Fudan University, No. 12 Urumqi Mid Road, Shanghai 200040, China.
authors.forename: Tongming
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Zhu
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurosurgery, Fudan University Huashan Hospital, National Key Laboratory of Medical Neurobiology, The Institutes of Brain Science and the Collaborative Innovation Center for Brain Science, Shanghai Medical College, Fudan University, No. 12 Urumqi Mid Road, Shanghai 200040, China.
authors.forename: Feng
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Xu
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurosurgery, Fudan University Huashan Hospital, National Key Laboratory of Medical Neurobiology, The Institutes of Brain Science and the Collaborative Innovation Center for Brain Science, Shanghai Medical College, Fudan University, No. 12 Urumqi Mid Road, Shanghai 200040, China.
authors.forename: Zhifu
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurosurgery, Fudan University Huashan Hospital, National Key Laboratory of Medical Neurobiology, The Institutes of Brain Science and the Collaborative Innovation Center for Brain Science, Shanghai Medical College, Fudan University, No. 12 Urumqi Mid Road, Shanghai 200040, China.
authors.forename: Yongtao
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Zheng
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurosurgery, Fudan University Huashan Hospital, National Key Laboratory of Medical Neurobiology, The Institutes of Brain Science and the Collaborative Innovation Center for Brain Science, Shanghai Medical College, Fudan University, No. 12 Urumqi Mid Road, Shanghai 200040, China.
authors.forename: Qisheng
authors.initials: Q
authors.lastname: Tang
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurosurgery, Fudan University Huashan Hospital, National Key Laboratory of Medical Neurobiology, The Institutes of Brain Science and the Collaborative Innovation Center for Brain Science, Shanghai Medical College, Fudan University, No. 12 Urumqi Mid Road, Shanghai 200040, China.
authors.forename: Luping
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Chen
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurosurgery, Fudan University Huashan Hospital, National Key Laboratory of Medical Neurobiology, The Institutes of Brain Science and the Collaborative Innovation Center for Brain Science, Shanghai Medical College, Fudan University, No. 12 Urumqi Mid Road, Shanghai 200040, China.
authors.forename: Yiwen
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Shen
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurosurgery, Fudan University Huashan Hospital, National Key Laboratory of Medical Neurobiology, The Institutes of Brain Science and the Collaborative Innovation Center for Brain Science, Shanghai Medical College, Fudan University, No. 12 Urumqi Mid Road, Shanghai 200040, China. Electronic address: jzhu@fudan.edu.cn.
authors.forename: Jianhong
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Zhu
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D003094:Collagen / Q000737:chemistry / Q000494:pharmacology; D005154:Facial Nerve / Q000502:physiology*; D020220:Facial Nerve Injuries / Q000378:metabolism / Q000628:therapy*; D005260:Female; D016222:Fibroblast Growth Factor 2 / Q000737:chemistry / Q000494:pharmacology; D009416:Nerve Regeneration / Q000187:drug effects*; D058953:Neural Stem Cells / Q000378:metabolism*; D051381:Rats; D017207:Rats, Sprague-Dawley
chemical_list: D016222:Fibroblast Growth Factor 2; D003094:Collagen
keywords: Facial nerve regeneration; NS/PCs proliferation; Natural nerve conduits