Olfactory bulb ensheathing cells enhance peripheral nerve regeneration

Abstract

Sciatic nerve resection leaving a 15 mm gap could not be repaired by bridging the stumps with a silicone tube prefilled with a laminin gel. However, when purified olfactory ensheathing cells (EC) were added to the gel filling the tube, successful axonal regeneration was observed in 50% of rats. With 12 mm gaps, regeneration occurred in 79% of rats with transplanted EC compared with 60% of those receiving collagen gel alone. Therefore, ECs help repair severe peripheral nerve injuries, in addition to their ability to promote axonal regeneration within the central nervous system.

Differentially promoted peripheral nerve regeneration by grafted Schwann cells over-expressing different FGF-2 isoforms

“…4 weeks post-operation, the regenerated tissue was explanted, fixed in 4% paraformaldehyde solution. Longitudinal cryostat sections were cut at 50 Am and viewed under an epifluorescence microscope (BX60, Leica, Germany) using appropriate filters to visualize the red-fluorescent PKH26-GL cell surface staining (Verdu et al, 1999).…”

Olfactory ensheathing cell transplantation for a patient with chronic sciatic nerve injury

“…[19][20][21][22][23][24][25] During the period of recovery after acute phase, Schwann cells play an important role in peripheral nerve axonal regeneration and remyelination through providing neurotrophic support, guiding axonal regeneration, and myelinating the regenerated axons. [5][6][7][8][9] However, in chronic phase, endogenous Schwann cells may lose their abilities because of cellular atrophy and can no longer perform the functions of supporting, guiding axon regeneration, and myelinating; at that time, OEC transplantation may replace Schwann cells to play those roles. 26,27 How was this patient able to recover some functions in the early stage?…”

“…Some preclinical studies report that transplantation of olfactory ensheathing cells (OECs) for peripheral nerve injury in acute phase enhanced peripheral nerve restoration. [5][6][7][8][9] Currently, there are no reports about clinical studies on OEC for restoring chronic peripheral nerve injury. Herein, we report the case of one patient with chronic sciatic nerve injury who received OEC therapy and showed neurological functional improvement.…”

Perspectives in regeneration and tissue engineering of peripheral nerves

“…OECs, which guide the continuously regenerating axons of the olfactory neuroepithelium towards the olfactory bulb, have shown to retain a higher migratory potential and ability to penetrate glial scars in comparison to SCs (Franklin and Barnett, 1997), a property which makes them a rational trans-plantation candidate for nerve reconstruction. The employment of OEC transplantation in injured peripheral nerves have shown that, in rodents, these cells can provide trophic support, form cel-lular bridges across the site of injury, and significantly promote axonal regeneration (Verdú et al, 1999;Guntinas-Lichius et al, 2001;Radtke et al, 2005Radtke et al, , 2010Dombrowski et al, 2006).…”