Abstract
Background
The gold standard to reconstruct a nerve defect is a conventional autologous nerve graft. There may be a lack of such grafts in severe nerve injuries. Alternatives to autologous nerve grafts are needed.
Methods
We have developed a technique where mainly Schwann cells are acutely dissociated from the ends of the severed nerve trunk after nerve injury. The technique does not require long-term cell culture procedures. The obtained cells, which can be dissociated within a few hours, are applied to a silicone tube or a tendon autograft used to bridge a nerve defect.
Findings
Dissociated cells from the ends of the severed nerve ends consist of more than 85% of Schwann cells. The remaining cells are ED1 stained macrophages. The cells survive transfer to a silicone tube or a tendon autograft which bridge the nerve defect. Axons do grow through such a graft filled with dissociated cells.
Conclusion
Our novel model to obtain mainly Schwann cells by dissociation of the cells from the severed nerve ends after injury and add them to a matrix, thereby creating an artificial nerve graft, may be a new technique with potential clinical application in nerve reconstruction.
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References
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© 2007 Springer-Verlag
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Dahlin, L., Brandt, J., Nilsson, A., Lundborg, G., Kanje, M. (2007). Schwann cells, acutely dissociated from a predegenerated nerve trunk, can be applied into a matrix used to bridge nerve defects in rats. In: Millesi, H., Schmidhammer, R. (eds) How to Improve the Results of Peripheral Nerve Surgery. Acta Neurochirurgica Supplementum, vol 100. Springer, Vienna. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-211-72958-8_12
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-211-72958-8_12
Publisher Name: Springer, Vienna
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