Optic nerve regeneration is an important area of research. It can be used to treat patients suffering from optic neuropathy and provides insights into the treatment of numerous neurodegenerative diseases. There are many hurdles impeding optic regeneration in mammals. The mammalian central nervous system is non-permissive to regeneration and intrinsically lacks the capacity for axonal regrowth. ...

OF DISSERTATION GROWTH FACTOR DELIVERY FROM FIBRIN MATRICS CONTAINING AFFINITY-BASED DELIVERY SYSTEMS TO TREAT PERIPHERAL NERVE INJURY By Matthew David Wood Doctor of Philosophy in Biomedical Engineering Washington University in St. Louis, 2009 Chairperson: Shelly E. Sakiyama-Elbert, Ph.D. This thesis work sought to develop a biomaterial to further the understanding of affinitybased delivery an...

Aberrant regeneration of the third nerve occurs as a result of synkinetic 'miswiring' of the third nerve following its injury, such as in third cranial nerve palsy due to tumor, trauma, or aneurysm. The case presented is an elderly woman with new vertical diplopia, which led to a diagnosis of a third cranial nerve palsy, thought to be caused by a 5 mm blister aneurysm of the posterior communica...

An orientated substratum has been implicated in the development and regeneration of axons and synapses. We prepared a basement membrane matrix from autogenous striated muscle, used it to repair the sciatic nerve in rats, then investigated the results by histology and electrophysiology. When treated grafts were coaxially aligned with the nerve fascicles functional recovery appeared within 30 day...

Synthetic nerve guidance channels are used to better understand the cellular and molecular events controlling peripheral nerve regeneration. In the present study, the contribution of wound-healing molecules to peripheral nerve regeneration was assessed by varying the molecular weight cutoff of the tubular membrane. Nerve regeneration through polysulfone tubular membranes with molecular weight (...

Nerve growth factor (NGF) and laminin are important factors for neural development and regeneration. We examined the effects of increasing the local concentration and duration of action of NGF and laminin on peripheral nerve regeneration in the adult mouse sciatic nerve. A Silastic (silicone rubber) channel with intraluminal NGF solution was secured between transected nerve ends. The second cha...

Synthetic nerve conduits have emerged as an alternative to guide axonal regeneration in peripheral nerve gap injuries. Migration of Schwann cells (SC) from nerve stumps has been demonstrated as one essential factor for nerve regeneration in nerve defects. In this experiment, SC viability and migration were investigated for various materials to determine the optimal conditions for nerve regenera...

Following traumatic peripheral nerve injury reinnervation of denervated targets may be achieved by regeneration of injured axons and by collateral sprouting of neighbor undamaged axons. Experimental models commonly use sciatic nerve injuries to assess nerve regeneration and neuropathic pain, but behavioral tests for evaluating sensory recovery often disregard the pattern of hindpaw innervation....

6 ORIGINAL PAPERS 7 ABBREVIATIONS 8 INTRODUCTION 1. Clinical background and epidemiology 9 2. Pathophysiology of spinal cord and peripheral nerve injury 2.1. Spinal cord 9 2.1.1. Acute and sub-acute spinal cord injury 10 2.1.2. Chronic spinal cord injury 11 2.2. Peripheral nerve 11 3. Regeneration following spinal cord and peripheral nerve injury 3.1. Regeneration following spinal cord injury 1...