Ryosuke Kakinoki, Yukiko Hara, Koichi Yoshimoto, Yukitoshi Kaizawa, Kazuhiko Hashimoto, Hiroki Tanaka, Takaya Kobayashi, Kazuhiro Ohtani, Takashi Noguchi, Ryosuke Ikeguchi, Masao Akagi, Koji Goto
There are many commercially available artificial nerve conduits, used mostly to repair short gaps in sensory nerves. The stages of nerve regeneration in a nerve conduit are fibrin matrix formation between the nerve stumps joined to the conduit, capillary extension and Schwann cell migration from both nerve stumps, and, finally, axon extension from the proximal nerve stump. Artificial nerves connecting transected nerve stumps with a long interstump gap should be biodegradable, soft and pliable; have the ability to maintain an intrachamber fibrin matrix structure that allows capillary invasion of the tubular lumen, inhibition of scar tissue invasion and leakage of intratubular neurochemical factors from the chamber; and be able to accommodate cells that produce neurochemical factors that promote nerve regeneration...
April 22, 2024: Bioengineering