Cellular alignment improves nerve regeneration

What is it about?

Artificial nerve guides are being developed to substitute for autograft repair after severe peripheral nerve injuries. However, the use of simple guides is limited by the length of the gap that needs to be bridged, with the success of regeneration highly compromised in long gaps. Addition of aligned proregenerative cells and extracellular matrix (ECM) components inside the conduit is a good strategy to achieve artificial grafts that recreate the natural environment offered by a nerve graft. In this study we used chitosan guides with different cell types to enhance regeneration in long gaps in the rat peripheral nerve.

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Why is it important?

These results indicate that the combination of chitosan conduits with ECM-enriched cellular gels represents a good alternative to the use of autografts for repairing long nerve gaps.

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