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An anatomical study of porcine peripheral nerve and its potential use in nerve tissue engineering
Zilic, L. Garner, P.E. Yu, Tong Roman, S. Haycock, J.W.
Zilic, L.
Garner, P.E.
Yu, Tong
Roman, S.
Haycock, J.W.
Publication Date
2015-09
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© 2015 The Authors. Journal of Anatomy published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd on behalf of Anatomical Society. This is an open access article under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits use, distribution and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
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openAccess
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2015-05-26
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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.
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Citation
Zilic L, Garner PE, Yu T, Roman S, Haycock JW, Wilshaw S-P (2015) An anatomical study of porcine peripheral nerve and its potential use in nerve tissue engineering. Journal of Anatomy. 227(3): 302–314.
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