Neuronal Tissue Engineering:

For nerve regeneration, we have been designing tissue-engineered nerve conduits. These tubes are porous, biodegradable, and can contain drugs or cells. We have recently published the procedure to make these guides, and have implanted the "CultiGuides" in sciatic nerve defects in rats. We know that the polymeric guide alone will not regenerate peripheral nerves over long gaps (which can be due to tumor resection, trauma, or battlefield injuries); therefore, we have been incorporating neurotrophic factors and/or cells. One cell type that we are examining is Schwann cells. These cells can be isolated from the sciatic nerve. We have implanted these cell-containing guides in the sciatic nerve defects of rats, and these experiments are ongoing.

Key investigator: Kacey Marra, Ph.D.