Peripheral nerve regeneration by transplantation of BMSC‐derived Schwann cells as chitosan gel sponge scaffolds

It is said that bone marrow stromal cells (BMSCs) are able to differentiate into different kinds of cells, including Schwann cells, under relevant conditions (Dezawa et al., Eur J Neurosci 2001;14:1771-1776). In the previous paper, we demonstrated that chitosan gel sponge is one of the effective scaffolds for regenerating axons of the rat sciatic nerve (Ishikawa et al., J Biomed Mater Res A 2007;83:33-40). In the present study, we examined whether BMSC-derived Schwann cells with chitosan gel sponges were one of the effective scaffolds for peripheral nerve regeneration in rats. BMSC-derived cells with Schwann cell characteristics were labeled by green fluorescent protein using a retrovirus. An 8-mm gap was made by removing a nerve segment from the rat peripheral nerve, and chitosan gel sponges containing BMSC-derived Schwann cells were grafted, sandwiching the proximal and distal stumps of the transected nerve. Rats were sacrificed at 7, 14, and 28 days, and 2 and 4 months after transplantation. Immunohistochemistry demonstrated that regenerating axons were found near transplanted Schwann cells 7 days after surgery and extended into the host distal nerve segment at 14 days after surgery. Electron microscopy showed that transplanted Schwann cells formed myelin sheaths on regenerating axons 1 month after transplantation. The mean diameter of myelinated fibers was increased from 2.58 mum at 2 months to 2.84 mum at 4 months postsurgery. This study indicates that chitosan gel sponges containing BMSC-derived Schwann cells have strong potentiality as a graft that can be used for peripheral nerve regeneration.