Abstract
Current nerve tissue engineering applications are adopting xenogeneic nerve tissue as potential nerve grafts to help aid nerve regeneration. However, there is little literature that describes the exact location, anatomy and physiology of these nerves to highlight their potential as a donor graft. The aim of this study was to identify and characterise the structural and extracellular matrix (ECM) components of porcine peripheral nerves in the hind leg. Methods included the dissection of porcine nerves, localisation, characterisation and quantification of the ECM components and identification of nerve cells. Results showed a noticeable variance between porcine and rat nerve (a commonly studied species) in terms of fascicle number. The study also revealed that when porcine peripheral nerves branch, a decrease in fascicle number and size was evident. Porcine ECM and nerve fascicles were found to be predominately comprised of collagen together with glycosaminoglycans, laminin and fibronectin. Immunolabelling for nerve growth factor receptor p75 also revealed the localisation of Schwann cells around and inside the fascicles. In conclusion, it is shown that porcine peripheral nerves possess a microstructure similar to that found in rat, and is not dissimilar to human. This finding could extend to the suggestion that due to the similarities in anatomy to human nerve, porcine nerves may have utility as a nerve graft providing guidance and support to regenerating axons.
Highlights
The peripheral nervous system (PNS) is comprised of nerves, enclosed bundles of long fibres or axons and neurons, which connect the central nervous system to the rest of the body (Saladin, 2011)
The sciatic nerve divides into two terminal branches – the tibial and common peroneal nerve, with the tibial nerve being the larger of the branches
Excess fat and connective tissue was removed from the nerve samples, and tissues washed three times in phosphate-buffered saline solution (PBS; Oxoid, Basingstoke, UK) containing 0.1% (w/v) ethylene diamine tetra acetic acid (EDTA; VWR) to remove excess blood and tissue fluid
Summary
The peripheral nervous system (PNS) is comprised of nerves, enclosed bundles of long fibres or axons and neurons, which connect the central nervous system to the rest of the body (Saladin, 2011). Sural nerves possess smaller fascicular patterns (i.e. the number and size of fascicles), which may not match the fascicular patterns of the nerve being grafted (Meek & Coert, 2002) Considering these limitations, there are clinical requirements for better approaches to aid nerve regeneration (Schmidt & Leach, 2003). Porcine nerve tissue may have the potential to be used for longer and more specific nerve gap injuries due to their size, length, motor and sensory similarities compared with human nerves (Moore et al 2011). To the best of the authors’ knowledge there have been very few studies evaluating the potential of porcine peripheral nerves as grafts to repair short and long gap defects. The aim of the present work was to study the anatomical organisation, structure and
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