Differentiation between the motor and sensory fascicles of the peripheral nerves from adult rats using annexin V-CdTe-conjugated polymer

Abstract

Until now, no method has been available to rapidly differentiate between the motor and sensory nerve fascicles introperatively. To establish a method to rapidly differentiate between the sensory and motor fascicles in the peripheral nerves. Annexin V-CdTe-conjugated polymer was used to stain the sciatic and sural nerve fascicles of adult male Wistar rats for 10, 15, 20, and 30 min. Under a light microscope, the sural nerves and the sensory fascicles of the sciatic were visualized as bright red fluorescence with Annexin V-CdTe-conjugated polymer staining. In contrast, no fluorescence on the motor fascicles of the sciatic nerve could be visualized. Fluorescence intensity was not strong enough to show the nerve fascicles with 10 min of staining; however, the intensity was clearly visible after 15 min of staining. No significant difference in the intensity of staining was observed among samples stained for 15, 20, and 30 min. Our study shows that Annexin V-CdTe-conjugated polymer can differentiate the motor and sensory nerve fascicles of the peripheral nerve rapidly and precisely in vitro. This technique represents a new method for the identification of peripheral nerve fascicles.